


RAT DREAMS

by RubberResilience



Category: Mad Rat Dead (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Everyone Is Alive, Gen, No beta we die like Mob Rats, Plot, Spoilers, tags to be added as story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27740410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubberResilience/pseuds/RubberResilience
Summary: A brief dream created a tiny miracle.(Alternative title: Displacement AU.Takes place after the final stage and includes spoilers. Not recommended to read unless one has finished the game.)
Relationships: Mad Rat & Heart & Rat God (Mad Rat Dead)
Comments: 125
Kudos: 76





	1. Dreams Realized

**Author's Note:**

> I have been inspired by all those fan creations (and head-canons), and now… This is here.  
> Aside from hoping to see a happy Rat and Heart, I also want to see a happy Rat God with the duo so here we are.  
> Brief settings of the AU are explained at the end of this chapter and will be continually improved over time (...Hopefully)!

It was time to end it all. 

With the fake Rat God's defeat, only one task remained-- To rewind time and free Heart from the laboratory. 

The lab rat stared at the fake Rat God's decadent form. Perhaps, if Heart had not been here and he had fulfilled the wish of killing the human (although it no longer meant anything to him), he would have readily followed the parasite's guidance to a 'happy end'... But here, saving Heart was the only thing which truly mattered-- There was no way he would let Heart die with him by the end of the night, even if Heart was against it.

It was, indeed, bad luck that only his wish would come true.

"Mad Rat... Are you really going to...?"

Mad Rat moved his gaze away and turned to his sorrowful friend with a reassuring grin.

"Yeah... It's alright. Trust me, Heart."

Heart was hesitant. He did, but at the same time, he could not just...

"...I..." Heart started, hoping to persuade Mad Rat to reconsider: They could always rewind time to see and change what had gone wrong during the transplant, right?

Yet, as he looked up to meet his friend's gaze all words failed to come out-- Mad Rat was resolved. Even though he knew what awaited ahead, he was anything but fearful.

"...I do." Heart looked away, trying to hold back his tiny sobs.

"Thank you, Heart." Mad Rat did not let his gaze linger on Heart's teary eye and placed his paw on his chest.

"Let's rewind, then."

All of them got into this mess because of the human’s curious experiment. To the lab rat, it did not matter-- Experiment or not he would still cease to exist, but for Heart and the Parasite… It was not fair. 

_It was not fair at all._

For a fleeting moment, as the clock started ticking, he imagined a “happy end” for all three of them, that all of their wishes could have been granted… As impossible as that was.

He continued to dream until it all faded black.

* * *

The familiar scents of chemicals prompted Mad Rat to open his eyes. This time, it seemed that time had truly rewound: He was free of stitches, he was much heavier than before, and--

Mad Rat placed his paw on his chest: The familiar, lively beats had been replaced by weak and disordered ones. 

He grinned weakly at the confirmation. Now, he had to hurry and let Heart out of the lab. 

Struggling with his no longer energetical body, Mad Rat approached the cage's wall and reached out-- If he could do it once, he could do it again.

Despite his shaking paws and wobbly body, Mad Rat managed to progress halfway. He pulled himself upwards with all his strength, but before he could step onto the next bar, his standing leg gave out and caused the rat to fall backwards. 

"!!!"

The rodent landed on the hay but continued to tumble off the small slope due to velocity-- Until he unceremoniously collided with something soft.

"Ugh!"

"Ow!"

Two voices squeaked in union upon impact. Mad Rat remained unmoving, still recovering from the rather forceful collision.

_Wait...That wasn't right. He should be the only rat in this cage. And that voice...!_

Fighting off the dizziness that buzzed in his head, Mad Rat opened his eyes and found himself face to face with a familiar magenta figure that was mumbling about pain while rubbing her head, presumably where he had landed onto.

_But how...?!_

"Fake Rat God?!" 

"Huh...?" The "rat" in question blinked at the astonished lab rat as she stood up. "Why're you still here, Little Rat? Weren't you... Going to rewind time?" The self-proclaimed goddess smiled bitterly.

"I did!" Mad Rat answered tersely, shock barely fading as he crossed his arms. "The real questions are: 'How did you end up in my cage?' and 'What happened to you?!' I thought you were--"

"What're you talking about? I... What?" The fake Rat God stood up and studied her surroundings, and the situation started to click-- This was indeed the dying rat's cage, and she was in the environment, standing on two legs… in her rat form. She was about to panic, but then she realized that she felt different-- Heavier and more firm than before, but not at all unwell. 

She was surviving outside of a creature.

_Does that mean...?_

Ignoring the rodent’s astonishment, the fake Rat God ran up to the presumed water container and eagerly inspected her body. Ears and tail, wings and outfit... They were completely identical to her assumed appearance. Then, she delicately touched her magenta silk hat, and could feel its fabric texture brushing past her paw; her ears, too, were with soft fur, no longer disguises for deception.

Lastly, she took deep breaths and focused... And she could feel what was not there before: Her chest would rise and fall, she could feel the relatively cool air against her skin, and... She could feel her own heartbeat. 

The fake Rat God was now a true Rat. 

"I'm... No longer a parasite? I'm no longer a parasite!!" She exclaimed ecstatically, hurrying back to the still dumbfounded (and confused) Mad Rat she had left aside before her outburst. As she reached out to grab his paw, she could feel the softness of his glove and her smile grew even wider. "I don't know what's going on either, but... I'm... I'm real now, Little Rat!" 

As they came into contact, Mad Rat felt himself panicking from the interaction, flashbacks of their former battle crossing his mind and instincts urged him to retract his paw immediately. Yet at the same time… Seeing her smile gave him a familiar warm feeling-- One that was akin to the times when he had helped the black cat and the human kid.

He managed to cast his uneasiness aside and reciprocated with a smirk. "I guess how this happened doesn't matter. What that matters is that-- Ugh...!"

Before Mad Rat could finish, a sharp pain surged through his chest. He fell abruptly and held his paw against his chest, heaving in pain. He could hear the rushed, high-pitched squeaks, but he couldn't figure out what she was saying-- It hurt too much to focus.

(That also reminded him-- He didn't have the whole day to spend.)

Trying his best to ignore his pained body, the lab rat dragged himself up from the ground. He glanced at the other rat briefly before going for the cage's wall and attempting to climb again. "You should leave, fake Rat God... L-Leave the lab... Before the human returns." 

"But what about you?" She followed closely behind, gradually levitating from the ground as she approached-- With her now true body, she was relieved to find that she could still remain airborne with her wings.

"Heart’s still… Waiting for me to help him!" Mad Rat growled in frustration as his trembling paw repeatedly missed the bar he tried holding onto, “I have wasted too much time already!”

He attempted to reach for the bar once more, and a paw entered his vision from above.

"Here, Little Rat." The fake goddess, having reached the cage's ceiling already, extended her paw to him with a smile-- A genuine one.

"Why are you helping me...?" With their previous encounters, Mad Rat was certain that she would jump at the first opportunity to ditch her former dying host now that she was free, yet the creature reaching out to him was just like when she first appeared before Mad Rat-- A kind, gentle goddess that took pity on and decided to help him. 

_Is this another trick?_

He stared at the other rat with wariness, but the false goddess continued to hold her paw out with the same lingering smile, strands of lime hair suspended next to her sides. For a brief moment, his uneasiness faded away completely, and he reached for the extending paw.

Somehow, the anticipated drop that would reveal it was all a trick never happened. 

With relative ease, thanks to fake Rat God's assistance, the two made it outside of Mad Rat's cage. Glancing around, Mad Rat spotted a large cage from afar, barely out of reach from the sunlight outside the window.

"There's a cage up ahead... I think that's the one holding Heart! Come on, let's hurry..." Mad Rat clenched his paw at his chest and huffed, slowly getting himself close to the cage. The false goddess, however, merely glanced at the faraway cage and shook her head.

"I'll stay behind until you two are done, Little Rat. I don't think your little friend will welcome me."

Mad Rat was going to disagree-- He knew well that Heart was not one to hold hard feelings but this was no time to argue, so he simply nodded. If she was worried that Heart would be upset to find her here… 

"Don’t worry… I'll tell him about you... So he knows what to expect."

"But--" 

"I'll be ahead, come when you’re done psyching up...!" 

“...”

Content with the lack of protest from the other rat, he continued without turning back. 

* * *

Mad Rat dragged himself over to the other cage with slightly accelerated speed as the pain dulled. It was a relief that there were not yet signs of the human returning despite all the wasted time.

As he got closer, he could hear something-- A lively melody amongst the silence. The easily recognizable sensation of beats, too, were present. 

"Heart...!"

Ignoring the odd sensation from his chest, Mad Rat started sprinting towards the cage. The music turned louder as he approached, and somehow, he could feel his lethargy fading and his body less heavy-- It must be his excitement.

"...Mad Rat?" A voice called out from the cage, and Mad Rat recognized it immediately: It was truly Heart!

"Heart! It's me! I'll get you out, hold on...!" He answered quickly as he squinted at the cage lock-- It shouldn’t be too hard to get it off.

_Just deal with it like those nightmares and...!_

With a clean clatter the cage lock was kicked open, and Mad Rat promptly pulled the container's lid, unlocking it.

"Come on, Heart!" Stepping away from the cage, Mad Rat gazed expectantly at the eyes in the darkness.

With a soft affirmation, Heart stepped out of the cage reluctantly. "Mad Rat, it's me. Heart--" He was expecting his friend to back away in fear, but before he noticed the rat had already come up and wrapped his arms around his large body. 

"I thought you hated cats, Mad Rat..." It took a moment for Heart to recover from astonishment and return the embrace. Mad Rat chuckled before snuggling closer to the feline. "What you were doesn't matter, Heart-- You're still my heart!"

"I'm glad... And I'm happy to see you remain so energetic." Heart responded as he closed his eyes, focusing on the hug. "I was worried that once I left your body, you wouldn't be..." 

"'Energetic’ is probably the wrong word, Heart. It took me so long to get out of my cage." Mad Rat commented as he looked up at the cat.

"But... How'd you do that if you couldn't move like before?"

"Do what?"

"Opening the lock like that...?"

"What's so special about it?" Mad Rat let go of his friend and glanced at the cage lid. Just now, he had simply kicked it open. It came off relatively easily too, so what's the big deal? 

_...Simply kicked it open?_

"Hang on..." The lab rat's eyes widened, realization kicking in-- _He shouldn’t have the strength to do so, not when Heart wasn't with him anymore._

He observed his body again: No stitches were there and seemingly no missing organ (he hoped), but he definitely felt lighter than before. 

He placed his paw on his chest.

_Thump... Thump... Thump..._

The heartbeats were no longer messy and wild. In contrast, it seemed to be in synchrony with the beats from Heart...! 

_First fake Rat God, then him?!_

"Something weird's going on!!" This time, it was Mad Rat's turn to exclaim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The AU’s name is a direct hint to what happened here, though it might be rather bizarre:  
> Mad Rat’s brief dream-- That all of them could fulfil their wishes in a way-- Caused subtle changes during time-rewinding: Their physical appearances reverted following their own impressions, and subsequently they carried over properties of their states when the rewinding occurred under the influence of their wishes. 
> 
> Fake Rat God’s assumed appearance and her desire to survive caused her to become a real rat with powers she had as a parasite (her “appearance” became true, both inside and out). Due to the lack of indication regarding where she would be, she ended up appearing inside the left of Mad Rat’s cage (position of when time was rewound). 
> 
> Both Heart and Mad Rat were aware that they would be back to their own cages and appearances before the transplant (as a cat and a rat without stitches). However, Heart’s wish of not wanting Mad Rat to die influenced the displacement of his physical state: As long as Mad Rat could sense Heart’s beats, he could function just like when Heart was with him.


	2. Dauntless Reactions

“This is amazing!” Mad Rat chortled as he enthusiastically moved with the beat. One moment he was still struggling to move around, and the next he was already jumping and dashing like before. Heart, lightened up by the lab rat’s liveliness, also chuckled. 

“Let’s get out of here and go find the black cat and little girl, Mad Rat! Now that you’re okay, there’s nothing left to worry!” 

“Speaking of leaving…” Mad Rat stopped his vigorous movements and looked in the direction of his cage, “There’s someone I want you to meet before we go.” 

“Someone?” Heart’s ears perked up.

“Yeah, when I woke up in my cage after rewinding time, fake Rat God was also there, and... She’s an actual rat now.” The lab rat shrugged as he finished.

Mad Rat studied his friend’s stillness, expecting him to be surprised by the news-- But Heart merely smiled and replied softly, “I’m really happy to hear that.” 

“You weren’t shocked?”

“A little, but I’m more happy than shocked! While I can’t say I’m fine with what she’d done… I am really glad that she gets to live the way she wishes now.” The cat paused briefly and added, “What about we all leave the lab together? I can get her to where she wants to be faster if we go together!” 

Mad Rat chuckled at Heart’s response-- Cats, once again, sure were unpredictable. “Alright, I’ll go get her. Gimme a sec, Heart!” He turned away from Heart and started dashing towards his cage, the music slowly dimming out.

“Hey, fake Rat God! Come here! Heart asks if y----?!” The rat called out as he ran, but all of a sudden, he found his strength completely drained and tripped, slamming onto the surface. 

His body felt like lead again…!

He hurriedly covered his mouth to stifle a pained squeak as his chest throbbed with renewed, intense pain. There were some sharp noises in the distance-- _whose voice was that?--_ As he winced and attempted to stand up only to tumble again. 

Everything was blurry and pain was the only thing he could recognise... When his head was finally clear enough for him to distinguish the lively tune nearby, he noticed that he was standing with the other rat’s help and both fake Rat God and Heart were gazing at him with concern.

“Heh…Sorry about that. I’m fine now.” True to his word, he couldn’t feel the chest pain any longer and his heartbeat was regular again, but neither of the two seemed to be pleased with his answer; Heart, in particular, was giving him _that look_ again.

“Don’t go all teary-eyed on me, Heart… Look, I’m alive and kickin’!” 

“But once you’re away from me, you’re… You’re back to how it was... You’re still dying!” Heart cried. For a moment, he believed that Mad Rat’s conditions had gone better thanks to some sort of miracle, but the wishful thinking was cruelly shattered in mere minutes. 

"Well, as you said, I'll only... Y'know, when you're not nearby. I'll just have to stay close!" The grey rat concluded, grinning at the feline.

"Mad Rat..."

The winged rat stared at the duo, unable to find words. She had been granted the miracle of a new life, and just now she thought Mad Rat, too, had been freed of his situation. Seeing the rat collapse like that… She felt a new emotion that she had yet to understand, but she knew it was distinct from the indifference from when she was still plotting to lead him to a cat-- But this was no time to dwell on it. As she was planning to interrupt the pair...

The abrupt and metallic sound of something being turned caught the three creatures' attention-- And the lab rat immediately recognized it.

"Damnit…! We’ve gotta go, save the talk for later!" 

Heart leaned his body down and urged the rats, "Get on, I'll carry you both!" 

Empowered by the beat, Mad Rat hopped onto Heart's back with ease and the once-parasite followed suit with levitation.

"Hold on tight! I'll start running once I see an opening!" 

Heart leapt off the table and hid behind a pile of boxes nearby, keenly observing the door.

As they anticipated, the human came through the opened door and approached their cages while holding something that looked like a bottle with a sharp metal end in his hand. Fortunate for them, the door was left open wide enough for them to pass, but--

"The thing he's holding… Don't let it touch you, Heart!" Mad Rat hissed, "I see the human impale the other lab rats with it and they stop moving right after..." 

Heart didn't respond, but the rodent knew he got the message and leaned closer to the cat’s back.

The human approached Heart's cage. As he got near, he finally noticed that it had been unlocked and was now empty. With him hurrying to check on Mad Rat's cage, Heart knew that the opportunity had arrived and immediately zipped for the exit, passing behind the panicking human swiftly.

Heart deftly moved past the shelves and boxes in the way. With just a bit more time, they'd be out of sight--

_"Hey, look! A cat!"_

The duo paled at the voice from the cage above-- Mob Rats!

In the cage, many white lab rats crowded up near the wall and squeaked loudly.

_"What'd you know, there are two rats on its back!"_

_"Wait, really?! They sure have a death wish!"_

_"Wahh! The cat's staring at us! Is it planning to eat us?!"_

The feline ignored the commotion and continued to sprint for the door, but the rowdy noises from the cage were loud enough to catch the human’s attention-- He turned his head to the door, meeting the gazes of the two rodents as they disappeared in a turn. 

Grabbing the syringe he had put down, the human rushed towards the door.

* * *

“The human saw us! He’ll catch up if we don’t hurry-- EEK! HE’S ALREADY HERE!!” Fake Rat God squeaked, her grip on the cat's fur even tighter.

“I’m trying my best…!” Heart tried his best to remain focused as he passed through the narrow corridor. “But where should I go?! I’m too small to fit through the way we went to the sewers!”

“We should be able to leave through a window in the room at the end, some machines are stuck on the wall outside and we can reach the ground from there!” Mad Rat instructed, still turned to his back and watching the human.

Heart grunted and kept on sprinting. Just as he tried to squeeze past a pile of unstably stacked boxes, an unsealed box fell from atop-- The orange feline managed to dodge away in time (to the two rodents’ relief) and the glass contents in the box spilled out, shattering all over the floor.

“Nice one, Heart!” Both of them cheered.

“I-It was an accident!” The cat blushed at the praise despite the clarification.

The human slowed down significantly in front of the pool of broken glass, to their advantage, as he took careful steps to trudge through the mess. 

Taking a sharp turn, the trio entered the small room at the end of the corridor-- The window was only a little distance away, but as they approached the exit right above the table, an issue stood between them and their freedom-- A large portion of the window was blocked by a huge box.

“No… NO!!” Mad Rat hopped off from the feline’s back and frantically pushed against the cardboard box. “Damnit, move already!!” 

_They're not coming this far to be stopped by a stupid box...!_

The other two quickly joined the lab rat in getting the box out of the way, yet even with their best effort, it merely moved an inch.

Loud footsteps approached the door as they tried, and the winged rat panicked. “W-We’ve got to hide! There’s no way we can get out in time!”

With a combination of climbing and levitating from a nearby shelf, she reached the pipes on the ceiling swiftly. 

Heart glanced around-- They were on a relatively empty surface, there were two shelves nearby lined up with oddly-coloured bottles, at the back were shelves filled with books instead, and there were some boxes placed arbitrarily at the corner. It was dangerous to hide in a corner, but the other spots were simply no options to hide in-- He was way too large.

The cat turned and ran towards the boxes, and Mad Rat followed right after. As he adjusted his position to conceal himself, he saw the rodent hiding behind a shelf’s bottle not too far away from his spot. 

Barely after they had hidden themselves, the human finally reached the room. He glanced around as he slowly walked inside, locking the door behind him and placing the syringe in his lab coat's pocket. Heart watched nervously as the human bent down and checked under the table, hoping by some slim chance that the giant would turn away and search elsewhere… Only to see the human get up and walk straight towards his direction. 

Fake Rat God dreaded as the human got closer to Heart. 

_Heart’s going to get seen…!_ She fretted internally-- What should she do? _What could she do?!_

_What could I possibly do against a ginormous human?!_

But… But…!

_What if I can't rewind time anymore, and get squashed by the human?!_

_I’ll die if I try to stop him!_

_I can’t die yet!!_

_I’ve only started living just now!!!_

She found herself succumbing to her instinctual, fearful thoughts no matter how she tried pushing them away. As she saw from the corner of her eyes the human continued to approach the boxes, Heart almost mirroring her fear, the false goddess tried her hardest to get herself to move, to do something, _anything_ … But her body wouldn’t listen at all. 

She could only watch in terror as the human reached for the boxes and--

_\---Crash!!!_

One of the containers on the shelf fell onto the ground and shattered. The human stopped his previous action and moved away from the boxes. Before he could kneel down to study the broken glass, a shadow leapt out among the bottles and landed on his head. 

“Mad Rat…!” Heart’s eyes widened as he saw his friend became the center of the human’s attention and lured the tall figure away from himself.

“Hurry! Go get the box out of the way!” The lab rat shouted as he hopped off the human and onto the other glass shelf, slipping in between the bottles to avoid the huge hand attempting to grab him. “Just go!!” 

With the human now facing away from the window, Heart hastened to the large box and started pushing it out of the way.

The clear sound of broken glass snapped the false goddess out of her trance despite the remaining fear. Quickly, as she realized what was happening, she hopped down from the pipes and landed on the table to aid Heart, gazing briefly at the other rat as he distracted the human. 

_How had he not frozen in fear in the face of the human?_

It was just like back then-- When they fought for the opportunity to rewind time, he was completely fearless despite going for the exact opposite of survival. Did he not have those instinctual thoughts like her, those that told him to stay hidden or run away for his life, _to just survive_?

And Heart, too… Why would he want to sacrifice his life to save Mad Rat? Why did he not happily agree to let the lab rat save him when he could continue living that way, and instead pleaded Mad Rat to forget the idea?

_She did not understand a single thing… But she wanted to._

The box was slowly giving away as they continued to push against it. Just a little bit longer, then Heart could squeeze through the--

“Heart! Rat God! Watch out...!!” Both of them turned to the direction of Mad Rat’s voice and found the human, syringe in his hand again, walking towards the table-- Towards them.

Behind him, the grey rat was stuck on the top of a bookshelf, desperately trying to pull his tail from the large pile of books holding it down.

Staring at the approaching giant, fake Rat God could feel the overwhelming thoughts taking over, but Heart’s unexpected reaction disrupted her fright: Rather than cowering in fear like before, Heart was now baring his teeth and his orange fur standing on end-- He was ready to strike. 

Witnessing Heart’s anger and Mad Rat’s desperation ignited a resolve in herself.

_She wanted to understand, and she would!_

Hopping onto Heart then the large box, the winged rat flung herself at the human’s head. _If she could fly like before, she might also be able to…!_

* * *

The human stopped dead in his tracks as the once-parasite touched his forehead, syringe dropping onto the ground. For a moment the human stood completely still-- When he turned his head to look around the room, he started panicking with a series of bizarre movements: The human walked as if he was stuck and nearly drowning in something invisible, and with the awkward pacing rushed towards the table, roughly pushing aside the box that was blocking the window. Right after the window had been clear, the human climbed onto the same table hastily and held onto its edge as he kneeled on it, trying to reach the doorknob with his free hand while frantically glancing below the table. 

Despite being caught off-guard by the absurd behaviour, Heart did not stop to observe the human-- Instead, he rushed towards the bookshelf that Mad Rat was on and hastily knocked the books off him, paying no attention to the loud thuds created by the fallen books. “Mad Rat! Are you alright?!”

The lab rat nodded, wincing as he tentatively touched his tail. “...I'll be. Thanks, Heart.”

“That’s a relief…” Heart turned to the false goddess (who was in amusement and mild disbelief that _it actually worked_ ), “What did you do though, fake Rat God? How come the human acts like he’s lost it?”

Watching the human’s ridiculous attempt to unlock the door while lying on the table, the winged rat giggled. “Teehee…I just showed him a room full of melted cheese!”

“...You can make humans hallucinate too?!” Mad Rat’s startled expression only caused the other rat to giggle louder. “...Nevermind. Let’s just get out of here, I’m sick of this place.”

Taking one last glance at the still-delirious human, he commented.

With little delay, the trio left through the window, leaving the human to remove nonexistent cheese from the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laboratory section over. Coming up chapter will be a brief moment for the three to sort some things out.


	3. Reflective Discoveries

Heart's sprint finally came to an end as they located a safe resting spot between some large bushes in a park, the laboratory no longer in sight. 

Despite the fatigue that permeated his body, Heart could not be more excited-- Mad Rat was right next to him, safe and full of vigour.

When he saw the human approaching him and the fake Rat God, it was not the syringe's threat that fueled him with the determination to fight; it was the possibility that if any of them had to rewind time to get out of a bad situation, whatever happened that influenced Mad Rat's current state would also become undone, and he would then return to the supposed reality where he...

 _No, don't go there!_ The cat chided himself mentally, _we got out safe and sound, and that wasn't going to happen... He wouldn't let it..._

"...art, you okay? Hey, Heart!" 

"H-huh?!" 

"You've been spacing out, Heart. Are you feeling okay?" Mad Rat, who was sitting between him and the ‘Rat God’, asked as he looked up at the feline.

"O-Of course, Mad Rat! I'm fine, just a little bit tired is all." Heart answered quickly. "What about you? Does it hurt anywhere?"

The lab rat shook his head. "My tail still aches a little, but I'm feeling better than ever-- The chest pain is completely gone!" Placing his paw on his chest, Mad Rat declared with a grin.

“I still don’t understand what happened to me and fake Rat God, but I’m glad it did... Hey, Rat God, did you feel anything weird happening to you when time rewound?”

“Anything weird, hm...” ‘Rat God’ tapped her chin with one paw as she slowly levitated from the ground, closing her eyes as she pondered. “...I don’t think so. I’m just as clueless as you are, Little Rat.” 

“Oh well, understanding how it happened didn’t really matter!” Despite the response, Mad Rat’s enthusiasm did not seem to falter. “It wouldn’t change the fact that you’re now a real rat…” The lab rat glanced briefly at the false goddess as he spoke, and then fixed his gaze onto Heart, who also looked back at him, “...And that I’m still as energetic as before.”

Neither the cat nor the rat said anything as they continued to gaze at each other, but Heart could tell from the rodent’s twitching ears that he did not fully trust what he said himself despite the firm look that he was showing the feline-- So the cat moved closer and sat right next to Mad Rat with his paws tucked under himself, sharing with him their synchronized beats. 

“Heart…” Mad Rat had tensed at Heart’s suddenly intimate presence, still easily intimidated by the approach of larger creatures; but he soon relaxed, having found comfort in the steady heartbeat and warmth from the orange cat.

“...Thank you, heart of mine.” Heart beamed at the lab rat’s whisper as they continued to lean on each other.

With the tension and astonishment dying down, fake Rat God found herself reflecting on the events that occurred just now as they all sat down and rested: She woke up finding herself turned into a true Rat, broke out of the cage that Little Rat was in, used her ability to cause hallucination on a human and escaped the laboratory with the rat and his (originally little) friend... Everything had been bizarre to her and the winged rat was still trying to comprehend how it all came to be, but one thought, in particular, stuck out to her: She helped them on her own accord. 

Before she had become a rat, to her the lab rat was nothing more than a stubborn and deranged host that stood in the way of her wish-- _Why would one creature willingly abandon their life for the sake of another creature, anyway?_

She had loathed her resistant host intensely for ruining her wish again and again; and yet, all of her ill-will towards the rodent seemed to have disappeared without a trace now that her mind was no longer swarmed with the desperation for survival; she also reached out to him without second thoughts when she saw the lab rat’s difficult struggle-- _What exactly prompted her to help?_ The winged rat was not certain, but she hoped that she could come to understand the motivation behind her action and the odd warmth that followed when she watched the rat reuniting with his friend.

Similarly, she thought that she would have hated Heart for being the reasons that Little Rat managed to escape her hallucinations and refused to give in to her wish, but the supposed resentment was nonexistent-- She might have been startled slightly by his true form at first ( _it was a relief that she remained unafraid of cats despite now being a rat_ , she mused-- _Having a huge creature closing in on you was indeed a terrifying experience_ ), but the feeling faded as quickly as it appeared, leaving her with increased confusion for why she held no hostility towards the two creatures.

_“…Hey, Rat God, did you feel anything weird happening to you when time rewound?”_

Mad Rat’s question had the false goddess pause her thinking briefly.

_“Anything weird, hm...”_

When she no longer had the strength to stop him from rewinding time, the fake Rat God was certain that she would cease to exist and was quietly awaiting the moment that darkness would veil her sight for good… Only to be woken up by the lab rat the next moment. 

_“...I don’t think so. I’m just as clueless as you are, Little Rat.”_

_...Or perhaps even more clueless than you are,_ the false goddess sighed. Now that she no longer struggled to survive, she found herself at a loss of what came afterwards-- Despite the strong desire to live without having to rely on a host, she had never taken a moment to consider what she would be doing once she had the opportunity to live freely. 

_What should she be doing now? Living like a rat and eating and playing as she wished?_

The winged rat frowned, crossing her arms over her chest-- The idea no longer sounded as appealing as it was before now that she could choose: She still hadn’t figured out the strange feelings from before, and she was still unable to understand, when she was still a parasite, how Little Rat and Heart were unaffected by their instinctual thoughts-- And simply _living_ would not be leading her any closer to these answers.

_Or maybe, the answers were right in front of her._

The false goddess’ eyes lit up as she observed the duo’s resting forms.

“Hey, Little Rat… Now that you two are free, what are you going to do?” 

Mad Rat opened his eyes upon hearing the fake Rat God’s voice and turned to her direction. “Once we’re done resting, we’ll go find the black cat and tell him not to eat rats, and save the human girl from getting run over-- Since time has rewound, we’ve got to go and help them again before they get into trouble.” 

“And… What would you be doing after that?” The false goddess floated closer to Mad Rat, keen anticipation in her eyes.

The grey rat blinked at the question and lowered his head.

“Well… I haven’t really thought about that since I hadn’t expected to survive past tonight until now...” Mad Rat admitted with a mildly rueful smile. He was supposed to stay behind as Heart escaped from the lab such that his heavy body wouldn’t be a burden to his friend, and wait alone for the moment that his life came to an end; somehow, he wasn’t dying ( _kind of_ ) and he had escaped from the lab as well along with Heart and Rat God. He might not have a clear idea about what he wanted to do yet, but one thing was for certain--

“...But I do know I want to spend more time together with Heart.” Glancing at the cat who had dozed off at some point, Mad Rat smirked. “You have something that you want to do too, right?”

“I do, Little Rat. If you two do not mind, I…” The winged rat voiced, but a tinge of reluctance lingered and she couldn’t bring herself to say what she had meant to. “...I’ll wait until Heart’s awake, then I’ll tell you about--.”

“What are you waiting for me for? Is it time to go already?” 

Heart’s voice joined in without notice, and both of the rodents turned to the yawning cat. 

“Heart...! Did we wake you up?”

“It’s alright, Mad Rat. I’ve rested enough anyway!” The feline chuckled and looked at the winged rat, “Do you have a place you want to go, ‘Rat God’? We can take you there before we leave to find the black cat!” 

“About that…” The fake Rat God trailed off, and Heart continued to gaze at her.

“Hm..?”

“...”

“What’s with the holdup?” Mad Rat inquired, his attention also on the false goddess.

With a firmness that she did not expect from herself, the fake Rat God requested--

“I want to stay and explore the outside world with you two!” 


	4. Resolving Distrust

“You want to stay with us?!” Both Heart and Mad Rat blurted out, shock evident on their faces while the ‘Rat God’ nodded firmly at the exclamation. “That’s right! And I mean it!”

“But why, Rat God?” The lab rat asked, his unnerved tone accompanied by confusion.

_Why would she want to stay with them after all that they have gone through?_

Despite her now completely different demeanour, the memories of what the fake Rat God had done was still vivid in his mind-- She had deceived him, erased all traces that he and Heart had supposedly left in the world, made him hallucinate and under the influence, killed the other lab rats and hurt Heart. 

He could not act as though none of that had happened even if Heart, being the sympathetic cat he was, would forgive her with a smile.

The winged rat seemed to have picked up his uneasiness from the stiff posture and her eagerness started to dwindle. 

“Little Rat, I… I know it’s hard to--”

“Sorry, ‘Rat God’, but I don’t think that’s happening.” 

Heart interrupted, a coldness foreign to the lab rat in his usually soft voice as he blocked the false goddess from getting closer to his friend. “I’m grateful that you have saved us from the human, but you have messed with Mad Rat’s head to get him eaten by a cat and removed all that we have done for your wish... That's something I can’t just overlook, ‘Rat God’!” The feline snarled at the winged rat. “How can you guarantee that you wouldn't do this again if it means keeping yourself alive?!” 

The false goddess retorted quickly, “I didn't have a choice before! How could I prove it to you if you don't let me?!”

“Wait! This isn't--” Mad Rat's attempt to interfere was lost in the fierce back-and-forth between the feline and the winged rat. 

“I’m not giving you another chance to harm Mad Rat!” 

“I said I had no choice, stubborn cat!” 

Before long, they were staring dead at each others’ faces (the fake Rat God hovering right in front of the feline to prove her points), fully ignoring the lab rat and his efforts to separate them.

_Why does this keep happening?!_

Stepping back from the progressively heated pair, Mad Rat frowned with irritation.

First, something happened to both him and the Rat God when he had rewound time, then there was Rat God's unforeseen request followed by Heart's uncharacteristic outburst… The day had barely begun, and everything had already gone out of the lab rat's anticipation by a mile. 

When Heart was a literal heart, he was compassionate despite all that they had encountered: He did not want the black cat to drown even if he had attacked them, and he did not truly want revenge on the human (despite the support he had given the rodent), even though he had lost his life by the human’s hands… 

Mad Rat had expected Heart to be anything but furious at the Rat God’s request, with how happy he was for Rat God-- Yet right now, his friend was displaying aggression that the lab rat had never imagined seeing and the discrepancy had him greatly puzzled. 

None of that made any sense to the rodent until he started considering the little ‘time-rewinding incident’ that occurred-- Then it dawned on him.

_Heart was conflicted about Rat God because of himself._

“Hey…” Mad Rat tried to reach the arguing pair again, but it was no different from his previous attempts-- Neither of them heard him in their heated argument.

_Good thing Heart taught him a good way to snap someone out of it._

The grey rat backed away slightly, then with a charged dash leapt at the duo, placing his paws on top of their heads and--

“Ow!” 

“Ouch!”

The two had their heads bonked against each other‘s and yelped simultaneously, their quarrel halting.

“What was that for, Mad Rat?!”

“I can’t get to you two otherwise!” Glancing at the visibly upset but attentive duo, the rodent shrugged-- At least they were listening now. 

With their attention on himself, the lab rat began. “Listen, Rat God: Just like Heart said, we wouldn’t be able to just forget about what you’ve done; but at the same time, like the black cat, she should also be given a second chance...” Glancing briefly at the winged rat's astonishment, he turned to his troubled friend.

“That's what you're really thinking, right?” Mad Rat grinned with a steady and encouraging gaze. “It's fine, Heart.” He reassured--

Even if something had happened, Mad Rat knew they would be there for each other.

“...” 

Heart closed his eyes and nodded lightly, having understood his thoughts. Then, the feline spoke up to the other rodent, gazing intently at her. “Tell me, ‘Rat God’-- Why do you want to go with us?” 

The fake Rat God brightened up-- This time, Heart was willing to listen.

The rodent with a hat gradually levitated off the ground as she started, clasping her paws together. 

“...I was hoping if I stayed with you two, I could understand all the strange things that I have been feeling. When I was still a parasite, survival was the only thing I could think of, and the only true thing that I could have for myself...

Everything in a host was always static: There’s no wind, there’s no hot or cold, and the hallucinations I can create are just based on images that aren't mine... Now, I am seeing the world with my own eyes, I can feel the wind blowing over my skin, I can feel how soothingly cool it is, I finally know what fur feels like, and I feel _alive_.” 

The self-proclaimed goddess closed her eyes and stopped for a brief moment, thinking over her own words as her wings flapped slowly to keep her airborne.

“...I never thought I could feel the outside world like this. I used to have nothing but my own life, and now, I have been given all these new sensations and feelings; there was still a voice that told me to keep living, but unlike before, it was no longer the only thing existing in my mind.” ‘Rat God’ looked at the other rodent with a softened gaze, “When I saw Little Rat’s struggle earlier, it made me aware of thoughts and emotions that were not there before. I want to understand what’s going on and what they mean to me, and I know just striving to live isn’t a way to figure out any of that-- I’ve had enough listening to my instinct to just live.”

The false goddess ceased hovering and landed in front of the duo, gazing at them with newfound sincerity.

“I hadn’t wanted you two to take away the only thing I could have for myself as a parasite, but that can’t justify for what I have put you through, Heart and Little Rat...”

“For all that I have done to you two… I’m sorry.”

The fake Rat God whispered with drooping ears, her monologue coming to an end.

Silence continued to linger among the three after the winged rat had stopped talking. She surveyed Heart’s inscrutable expression, growing increasingly nervous at the quietness...

Then, the cat spoke up.

“While I still don’t trust you… It wasn’t completely your fault either.” Despite the fixed glare, the usual softness had returned to the feline’s tone. “You can come along, ‘Rat God’, if you’re keeping your words.”

“Thank you… Thank you!!” The worry on her face disappearing in a blink, the false goddess returned to her merry state and smiled, “I won’t let you down, Heart!”

Watching the fake Rat God’s gleeful expression, Heart faintly recalled the other lunatic grin he had seen on the same face-- It was hard to imagine that the two ‘Rat Gods’ were technically the same creature. 

_Instinct can create horrible influences_ , Heart remarked with pensiveness.

“Thank you too, Little Rat! Now we can all go together!!” After expressing her gratitude towards Heart, Rat God chirped happily as she sped towards Mad Rat--

“H-Hey! Leave me some space, Rat God!” Raising his paws defensively at the incoming rat, he yelled with panic. 

“Heheh, you’re still so easily startled!” Despite the comment, the winged rat had backed off for his comfort.

“Oh, shut up...” Mad Rat hushed with mild annoyance, but there was a hint of gratitude in his eyes.

* * *

With the arrangement sorted out, the cat and two rodents on his back headed for the forest. Compared to the fierce argument earlier, their current trip was a relatively quiet one-- Seemingly indulged in the peaceful serenity of nature, they had barely spoken on their way through the woods.

Heart was glad to have the opportunity to enjoy the view from his own perspective. Things may appear smaller now that he was a cat, its liveliness, however, was all the same. He would have loved to stop and admire the scenery, but they have to finish what they were here for before that--

“Are we getting close to where the kitty would be, Mad Rat?” The feline asked, glancing at his surroundings and comparing them to what he had seen before.

“We should be. We have taken a different route, but I remember seeing these small piles of leaves… Hey, look!” The lab rat shouted hurriedly, “There’s an outside rat up ahead!”

“Outside rat...”

The fake Rat God glanced at where the other rodent had pointed at, and-- 

Just a few meters away was a sprinting rat with bits of dirt stuck on its body.

_They have to stop the outside rat from approaching the black cat!_

Heart immediately went after the rodent, and thanks to his agility caught up to it shortly despite its speedy movements. Before the rat could run towards its goal, Heart leapt ahead and blocked its path with his body. The stray rat, confused by its hallucinations, had not seen the incoming obstacle and ran into him with full speed.

“Wait for me, chee-- Argh!!” It fell onto the ground, rubbing its head. “That hurts… Hey, where’s all the cheese?!” The stray rat leapt to its feet and glanced around-- The delectable yellow treat was nowhere to be found. Instead...

“Meow!” The stray rat looked up and was greeted by the sight of an orange cat staring right at itself. Squeaking loudly upon seeing the feline, the rodent scrambled in a panic and dashed in the opposite direction. 

“It seems like the outside rats can’t understand me…” Heart sighed at the fleeing rat.

“Don’t worry, Heart.” Mad Rat comforted, “They are smart enough to put it together and tell that the cheese is leading them to cats.”

“...Alright. Let’s go, we still have to get to the black cat before he eats the rats!” Heart picked up his pace as he finished, knowing that they did not have much time left.

As the two conversed, the fake Rat God remained quiet, continuing to stare at the grass where the stray rat had disappeared into until it was no longer within her vision.

Finally reaching the top of the leaf-covered slabs, Heart found the other outside rats which had already gathered around before a large bush, trying to grab the hallucinations of cheese only they could see. The feline hurried over to the group of rodents, ready to chase them away…

But before he could get to them, a black paw was already right behind the unknowing stray rats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of the many MRD fan content I have found out there, a good portion of them would have Heart and Rat God be at each other's throats constantly and I had wondered about different possible reactions for Heart in this chapter when I was still planning the plot. Given how forgiving and altruistic Heart has been in the game (with the very commonly squinted-at question: Why Heart had not rewound time to avoid getting cut open), I figured that there would have to be more factors for him to be severely upset at the Rat God and tried my best to depict it:  
> With the unexpected turn of events, Mad Rat was no longer slowly dying as they had anticipated. Heart was elated that Mad Rat could continue to live, but the sense of recovering what he thought had been lost had also created Heart's anxiety about things going wrong.  
> Rat God's request was taken as a possibility for something to go wrong under Heart's increased worry; Heart himself was not completely against the idea of letting Rat God join them, but when his concerns for Mad Rat came to mind, he quickly became distressed and snapped.


	5. Retrospective Deductions

Heart had thought that they were too late to stop the black cat, with his paw already raised behind the unaware outside rats… But what he had expected did not happen. Not in the way he had anticipated, at least: The black paw had merely pushed the rats forward rather than landing on them.

The stray rats squeaked in surprise as they were shoved by an invisible force. With the momentary distraction, they started to come to their senses again, frantically looking around in search of the vanished cheese-- And discovering the black cat that was right behind them, watching with his whiskers twitching.

A meow from the black cat was enough to send the petrified rodents running off into the distance.

Heart had remained still, trying to comprehend what happened, until he felt a light tap on his leg. Looking down, he found the lab rat staring ahead, gaze following the black cat just like himself.

“Heart, I think the black cat remembers what happened!” Mad Rat exclaimed, ears tilting forward.

The cat replied with a grunt: He was both surprised and relieved to see that the black cat had not eaten the rats, and with the change of events… It seemed like that would be the case. 

_He might be able to recognize us as well!_

The orange feline approached the other cat slowly as he announced his presence with the shuffle of leaves as the two rodents followed closely behind, hoping not to frighten him with their sudden appearance. Alerted by the sound, the black cat turned around and spotted Heart only to quickly hide into the bush. Despite the shy reaction, the black cat had not shown any signs of hostility and merely continued to observe Heart, blue eyes illuminating under the cover.

 _Oh, right… He hasn’t seen me like this before._ Heart chuckled at his eagerness to communicate with the black cat and turned to his friend, “Do you think you can get closer to him, Mad Rat? He might remember you, too!”

The rodent in question was a little squirmy at the idea but he nodded, sharing the same expectant gaze that the orange feline had. “Yeah… I’ll try.” Mad Rat slowly stepped forward, no longer hidden by Heart’s body, and approached the black cat with caution. 

“Hey, cat! Remember me?” 

Curious gaze shifting from Heart to the lab rat, the black cat continued to study them in silence. “He isn’t making any moves… Do you think--” Just as Mad Rat had turned away, the black cat revealed itself neck-up from the bush and trilled softly, causing the gloved rodent to jump at the abrupt sound from behind. Glaring at the cat who poked his head out, Mad Rat huffed with a glare. “You really like to do that, don’t you...”

The black cat trilled again, and unlike before, he did not back into the cover made of leaves despite his tendency to hide in dark places.

“So he does remember Mad Rat!” Heart happily commented as he walked towards the dark feline, Rat God floating beside with fascination as she studied the said cat. “How do you know that? I can’t understand him.”

“It’s a cat’s friendly greeting, ‘Rat God’, that’s how!” The orange cat beamed as he stopped a little distance away from the other cat, gaining the attention of the other two creatures. “I’m glad you did not eat the rats, kitty! I thought we were too late to stop you...”

The black cat meowed happily as a response, though he did not seem to realize this was the same Heart that he had seen previously, with his gaze still surveying the said cat with sharp interest.

“Oh, I know alright! We have met before, but it is a little hard to explain...” 

A set of meows was exchanged between the two cats, and the black cat finally noticed the floating rodent that was right next to the other feline. Meowing again with a higher pitch, he leaned forward to the false goddess.

“Hello, kitty! It’s nice to meet you!” She greeted gleefully as she levitated towards the black cat, and the later trilled briefly, another friendly meow following behind. “Tee-hee! You haven’t seen a flying rat before, have you?”

“It’s probably because most rats just run away from cats...” The lab rat joined in dryly and shrugged, seemingly bothered by the Rat God’s lack of fear towards cats as she keenly reached her paw out and petted lightly on the dark fur.

“His fur is so soft~!” Rat God giggled as the cat answered with a purr. Shooting a glance at the lab rat, the winged rodent hovered away from the black cat and placed her chin on her crossed paws. “Why don’t you try to pet him too, Little Rat? He seems to enjoy it!”

“...No, thanks.” The lab rat answered tersely, folding his arms across his chest and looking away. He might not be as unnerved by cats as much with the past few hours being right next to one, but… 

“Come on, Little Rat! Look at him-- He really likes you!”

“‘Rat God’ is right, Mad Rat-- The kitty is grateful to you!” Heart chimed in with a smirk which drew an exasperated cry from the lab rat. “Not you too, Heart! Why am I the only one that’s afraid of cats?!” 

Mad Rat turned to face the black cat again, and cheerily the feline mewed. Sighing in defeat, the lab rat went closer to the feline who then lowered his head such that he was levelled with the rodent’s height.

“You’re not going to bite my paw if I pet you, right...?” Arms still in front of his chest, the gloved rodent questioned anxiously. In response was another bright affirmation from the feline. Despite his inability to understand the black cat’s language, the bright blue eyes seemed to have conveyed the message and quelled the lab rat’s bubbling discomfort.

Slowly, Mad Rat raised his paw and placed it on the black cat’s head, rubbing it with care. While the lab rat could not feel the fur through his gloved paw, he could tell that it was soft like Heart’s; it was also strangely, just slightly, comfortable to touch… Not that he could get too comfortable with his instincts constantly reminding him that he was touching a _cat_ ’s fur.

Meanwhile, the black cat purred at the interaction, clearly enjoying the soft texture of the glove, and the lab rat awed at the sight of the feline relaxing and closing his eyes.

“He looks really happy…”

“It feels good getting petted like that!” Heart explained with glee, watching his friend also glowed at the dark feline’s reaction despite the modest wariness he displayed.

“Does that mean you like it too, Heart?” The winged rat playfully raised her paw towards the orange cat’s head as if she was going to pet him as well.

“Well, I…” 

Just as Heart trailed off, the black cat suddenly perked up and rose his head away from the lab rat’s paw. He hurriedly glanced around, then meowed one last time before abruptly disappearing into the bush that he was hiding from earlier.

“H-Hey! What’s wrong?” Startled by the sudden departure, Mad Rat took a few steps towards the bush-- And he also heard what the black feline presumably did: Footsteps that continued to draw near. 

_Is that… A human’s footsteps?_

The lab rat glanced at where they came from, finding his two companions doing the same, as the presence was signalled by the gradually amplifying noise, revealing itself to be the little girl they had seen-- With the same straw hat and dress as before. The trio watched her with anticipation, and noticing the gazes they had been giving her as she approached, the little girl smiled brightly as she stopped to observe them. Neither of the three creatures could understand the little girl and her presumed ‘words’, but judging from her joyous and curious expression the feline was almost certain that she was really delighted to see them.

They had spent some time together with the little girl: It was not something that Heart expected, but the human child seemed to have grown fond of them quickly and decided to stay for a little while. 

She had admired the winged rat’s form (who particularly enjoyed the attention she was given by the human child), she had petted him (his purrs at the hand ruffling his fur had indirectly answered the false goddess’ question from earlier, resulting in another fit of laughter coming from ‘Rat God’-- But he was enjoying the caress way too much to care), and the little girl had also tried to give Mad Rat the same treatment which was in vain (though she might have mistaken his friend’s vigorous movements to avoid her hand as a sign of being playful). 

When the little girl finally decided that it was time to go, she had left with a grin as she waved at them and went on her own way. 

* * *

Watching the human child’s contour shrink smaller and smaller as she went ahead, the lab rat frowned while sitting on the leaf-filled path. “I wonder if the little girl remembers what happened at all...” 

The false goddess hovered close to Mad Rat, remaining airborne as she placed her paws on her hips. “Is it because she didn’t leave you any cheese~?” She smirked as the other rat stuttered with his retort, “O-Of course not! It’s just...” Mad Rat stared at the ground as he described, absent-mindedly rubbing the yellow ear tag attached to his right ear. “She was studying me as if she hadn’t seen me before-- I doubt a human can tell apart rats, but a lab rat with a tag on their ear shouldn’t be common unless there are other lab rats out here.” 

_Does she really not remember?_ Heart pondered about their interactions with the little girl just now, and Mad Rat did make a good point-- The little girl did not seem to think that it was strange that some creatures were conveniently appearing on the path she had taken, nor did she react any differently upon seeing the grey rat. 

_How did the black cat remember the previous events when the little girl did not?_

For both the black cat and the little girl, they had rewound time to save them while being right next to them. Was it because the little girl was unconscious by the time they had rewound, that she did not remember being saved? 

That would mean they’d have to be careful about when to rewind if they really have to do so… And all the more reason why they shouldn’t rewind time. _If a human knows they can do something like that, there is no telling what they will try to do._

Heart sighed at the thought and decided to leave it be for now. They had to make sure that the little girl was going to be alright first-- If she did not remember being saved by them, chances were that she would also fail to recall getting run over by the vehicle.

They could always visit the forest and have a great adventure afterwards, when they made sure that the little girl was safe from harm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: In 5-1 (Pawsitive Interaction | Passion in Blue), the meows that you can hear from the black cat at the same spot do not always sound the same-- If you have arrived at one of those spots then rewind time, the meows would also be in different pitches!  
> As it is not a constant in the level, I believe the black cat would manage to remember what had happened even if the whole day has been rewound, albeit confused.


	6. Reconcilable Differences

Taking the same route that they had gone to the forest through, the three creatures returned to the city by evening, when the moon had yet to appear. With the concern of getting unwanted attention from humans ( _Humans don’t appreciate flying rats? Why wouldn't they? The little girl seemed really happy..._ ), Heart had secured a path up the rooftop of a building, similar to how they had gotten away from the laboratory through the white machines stuck on the outer wall. As they patiently sat on the rooftop and waited for the little girl to appear, Rat God gazed at the concrete buildings ahead and the humans that quickly passed the streets.

Was the outside world always this clear? She thought about the images that she had seen before from her hosts-- Many of them used to be bright and distinct, then as time passed they'd be missing bits here and there, decolourized or completely twisted beyond recognition due to the fading memories. She had tried to replicate what was there with her own creations in hopes of holding onto what little she knew about the outside world, but even to the best of her abilities the ‘repaired’ images were far from what it was supposed to be. Even with her now improved ability to create convincing hallucinations, the crumbled memories were never the same as what she had seen before.

She had believed that pieces of reality from a host was what little she could cling onto, but now… She was welcomed and embraced by the world itself, existing in her new form as a rat.

The winged rodent glanced at the duo who were attentively looking around the street, waiting for the moment that the little girl would appear.

 _They are also new_ _to this outside world, right?_

It was not entirely a bluff that she claimed to have known the lab rat’s whole life, granted her ability to easily infiltrate her host’s mind; but at the same time she had not considered the significance of how vividly Little Rat remembered everything in the laboratory before: Was that how it was like to be trapped in the same place since one’s birth until their death, waking up to the same scenery every day? It was almost like herself, being stuck in a place she did not want to be but unable to change her fate.

Perhaps that was what caused the strange feeling from before-- The part of herself that the false goddess saw in the lab rat, desperately trying to escape the life-long prison she had previously been locked in. 

Then, there was also Heart: Was he like the other cat host she had latched onto that was roaming in the wild to survive, or was he a domesticated pet that contently lived under a roof until he was sent under a scalpel, and had everything come to an end? With the ability to rewind time like herself, the feline should have had no issues escaping from his fate-- But ultimately he had let himself die just to save a rat he had never seen before.

Rat God had assumed that the whole time residing in the rat and watching their every move would have provided her with all that she needed to know about the duo; yet, it seemed like she had more answers to seek in order to fully understand herself.

“Hey, look! Is that the human kid?” Mad Rat hopped to the edge of the wall he was standing on, pointing to the far right of the streets. Hovering a little away from the wall, the winged rat looked down and searched for the child... And scarcely spotted something that resembled a straw hat with something red tied on it. 

“I think that’s her!” Rat God exclaimed as she returned to the wall and stopped in front of Heart, who quickly leaned down to carry the two rodents on his back-- _They must get to her before that happens and they have no time to waste!_

As they reached the pavement where the accident would occur, the little girl was already on her way, gradually approaching the road from a few meters away. Without any exchange, they dashed ahead and stopped in front of the little girl, the two rats hopping off Heart and blocking the path with him. Despite their abrupt appearance, the surprise faded quickly and the little girl smiled at the trio, having recognized them from earlier. She knelt and petted Heart again (who happily obliged), and made noises which sounded like a giggle when he purred.

Both of the rats glanced at the road behind them as the screech of the vehicle sped past the road and disappeared as quickly as it entered earshot.

_They have saved the little girl… In a way._

Even though the little girl herself did not seem to have noticed that at all, still smiling at the cat that was affectionately meowing at her, Rat God could not feel more proud at the realization that they had been able to change her fate. The foreign warmth from before had also made itself prominent again, but rather than finding it strange, it was a pretty nice feeling this time.

With the petting coming to an end, the human child stood up and fumbled through her dress pocket-- And took out from it a piece of cheese wrapped with some sort of paper. 

The winged rat watched with awe as the little girl removed the paper from the cheese: It was real cheese that appeared in front of her very eyes. It also had an inviting aroma that she had not experienced before-- She never imagined real cheese would smell this great. 

Putting the yellow treat on the paper she had smoothed out and carefully placed on the ground, the little girl with a straw hat mumbled more inscrutable sounds before waving again and walking past them, leaving the piece of cheese behind for the three to enjoy.

“She left us cheese!” Mad Rat cheered with practically glowing eyes.

“There’s only one, though…” Rat God continued to stare at the piece of treat-- _One cheese meant_ _that only one of them could have it._

“Let’s share it, then!”

“Share...?” The false goddess did not understand-- _What exactly is ‘share’?_

Rather than providing any form of explanation, the lab rat delicately picked up the piece of cheese on the paper. Then, with contrastive strength from before, he held the two ends of the cheese and bent it outwards. 

Her eyes widened-- _The cheese is going to break!_

Before Rat God could stop the lab rat, the cheese had soundlessly snapped into two nearly even halves. She was horrified at first, unable to understand the reason behind his actions, then it gradually shifted into confusion as she watched Mad Rat place one of the cheese chunks onto the paper and proceeded to split the other piece of cheese in two, one significantly smaller than the other... 

The blur of yellow that entered her sight finally snapped her out of her blankness. She blinked and saw a gloved paw holding out the large cheese chunk in front of her. 

“Here, eat up!” Mad Rat prompted as he raised the piece of cheese a little closer to the false goddess’ face.

Rat God took the yellow treat with both paws and examined it carefully: Even after being split in half, the cheese chunk was still large… And it smelt really good...

Parasites did not need to eat-- They would just siphon nutrition from their hosts to survive. Abiding by nature, she, like a normal parasite, had never eaten either. To feel a hollow stomach, the scent of cheese and the desire to eat… It was unprecedented but not uncomfortable. 

She decided to take the appropriate action: Taking a small bite out of the cheese chunk. Immediately, the rich, absolutely joyous flavour overwhelmed her senses.

“This is delicious!!” Rat God chewed in relish, enjoying the sweetness of cheese that lingered on her tongue. _No wonder why rats love this so much…_

From the corner of her eye, she saw Little Rat pass the larger portion of the other cheese to Heart, who was reluctant at first but eventually accepted the piece-- And immediately glowed upon tasting it.

Sharing was one of the best things she had experienced so far, Rat God decided.

Carefully wrapping the small piece of cheese with the clean side of the paper, the lab rat picked it up from the ground and turned to the other rodent.

“Ready to head back to the rooftop?”

* * *

With the night settling in, it seemed like the city itself was doing the same-- There were not as many humans on the streets, and gradually lights in buildings started to glow, forming a warm tranquility among the somewhat cool night. 

Leaning on the side of the orange feline, Mad Rat looked up at the clear full moon. It still felt so much smaller than what he had expected to see, but with all that they have gone through… It somehow looked more beautiful than he remembered.

The moon was also a signal that night had truly fallen-- When his heart was supposed to stop beating and he would subsequently die. 

Yet, as he placed his left paw on his chest and focused, he could still feel the beats created by the heart in his body, rhythmically beating to the calm melody from the sitting feline whom he was leaning on.

It was not just his heartbeat, either-- He was still vitalized and very much alive.

“I never thought we would get to see the moon together again.” The lab rat thought out loud, still gazing at the pristine sphere with his paw on his chest. “It is still hard to believe all of this has happened.”

Heart’s ears twitched slightly and he curled closer around himself while being mindful to the two rats by himself. “I thought that once time rewound, it would all come to an end… I am really glad it didn’t.”

“Rather than bringing an end, I’d say rewinding time has created a miracle!” Rat God gleefully commented, raising her paws dramatically as she did so. 

“A miracle, huh…” 

Everything that has happened on this day was indeed nothing short of a miracle; however, it was not a mere miracle at the same time. To have their fate completely changed, to see Rat God’s genuine smile and find Heart’s happiness replacing his grief… To see all of them being happy...

“...It is more like a dream came true.” He grinned brightly, having found the right words. There was a brief moment of silence, the sentiment seemingly shared among the three, then the winged rat chuckled with amusement.

“You’ve changed a lot throughout the day, Little Rat. I still remember how determined you had been to take revenge on the human.”

The lab rat’s whiskers twitched, still somewhat flustered at the thought. “You could say I came to understand what actually mattered… And I am glad I did.”

“Now that we have found the black cat and the little girl… What should we do tomorrow?”

“Would you like to visit the forest again, Mad Rat? It should also be a good place to stay away from humans during the day!”

“Do you think the little girl will be there tomorrow, too?”

“Who’s the one wanting cheese this time, huh?!”

“H-Hey! I just wanted to see her again!”

Unperturbed by the outside world, the three enjoyed a moment of repose under the bright moon.

* * *

...

It was a good while into the night, or so it felt to the winged rodent. They had stopped talking a while ago, presumably due to their exhaustion kicking in, but Rat God was still unable to fall asleep as the other two did... There were simply too many things to take in all at once.

She turned to rest on her right arm leaning on the cat and was just about to gaze at the moon again-- Until a soft voice interrupted the silence.

“Can’t sleep?” 

Looking at the source of where it came from, Rat God found the orange feline tilting his head slightly and gazing at her.

…Perhaps she was not alone as she had thought.

“A little… I have never had to focus on getting myself asleep.” She glanced briefly at the other rat who had curled around himself with eyes closed ( _steady chest rise and fall-- He is still here with them_ ) before facing Heart again. “Did I wake you?”

“Not at all, I’ve been awake the whole time.”

“I see…” Rat God picked up the magenta top hat she had put aside earlier and placed it on her lap, clutching the hat’s brim as she sulked. “You don’t have to worry, Heart. I am not going to do anything to you or Little Rat while you are asleep.”

The feline merely shook his head. “I know, Rat God. You would have done it already if you were planning to.”

“If that’s not what is concerning you, what else?”

“It’s just…”

Averting his gaze, Heart shook his head again quickly. The response, however, was not enough to convince the rodent to stop staring at him. 

“...There are so many things that could go wrong.” He picked up from where he had left off, still looking away. “For one, I don’t know if rewinding time again would erase whatever happened to Mad Rat and you, and...”

The winged rat froze-- The thought hadn’t occurred to her, and the overwhelming number of questions must have clouded her from the possibility. Without the ability to rewind time, they would be much more prone to lurking danger...

However, there was something else that bothered her: “You are worried even if you wouldn’t be affected at all?” 

That was what it took for Heart to finally turn around. 

“Of course I would! Mad Rat is an important friend to me, and I think we can become friends as well, Rat God. That’s why… If something happened to you two, I...” 

Heart did not continue, but the winged rat learnt all that she had to from the sorrowful expression that the cat was trying to hold back as he squeezed his eyes shut. 

“A-Anyway, I know it will be okay! We have been through so much already, I am not going to spend my time worrying about something that didn’t happen! I’ll just try to sleep…” 

Before the feline had turned away again, the false goddess stopped him with a squeak.

“Wait! There’s something else I’ve been wanting to ask...”

“And that is?”

“...How are you able to control your instincts around rats and even consider them friends, Heart?” Rat God brushed through the orange fur with her paw as she reflected quietly. “Seeing the stray rats back in the forest… I can’t help but wonder if I would have remained under the control of my instincts if all of this didn’t happen, and I don’t want that.”

There had been no way to tell instincts apart from her own thoughts, after all… And the proof was the many parasites that still acted that way. Had she remained a parasite, that would have been the only objective in her mind-- _To just live._

“Rat God...” 

The rat’s ears perked up, surprised by the woe in Heart’s voice.

“I can understand what you are feeling. I didn’t always have control over my instincts, either.”

If Heart had noticed Rat God’s astonishment, he did not let it faze his recollection. 

“I was a stray cat before I ended up in the lab. I had hunted other animals and tried to eat them before, just like other stray cats. However, seeing them tremble as I cornered them, I realized they were not food, but creatures just like me. I may not be a parasite, but I do understand it-- The thought that you have been doing what you truly wanted to.”

The winged rat had not expected to find the feline smiling at her-- And she found herself cheering up from the gesture as well.

“Now that your head is clear... I believe you will be able to overcome your instincts as well, Rat God!” 

Studying the heartening gaze from Heart, she finally started to understand Little Rat’s strong wish to save the feline-- It was more than an attempt to leave a mark on the world.

Rat God returned a determined look and beamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This sums up the end of the first day (or the supposed canon ending of the game)!  
> There are a good amount of head-canons present in this chapter-- Namely Heart’s origin and Rat God’s understanding for the outside world. There is not enough Heart-RG interaction in the game (understandably so), hence the last portion of this chapter is a take on how their interaction may go! (It is really fun to think about their settings, too...)


	7. Doodle-filled Retreat

_How would it be like to wake up to a clear morning sky outside of the lab?_

It was one of the curious questions that Mad Rat had thought about but eventually put behind, knowing that he would never be able to leave the laboratory that he was born in. When he woke up and found the exact scenery, his mind had yet to register the situation with the lab rat yawning and staring blankly at the blue sky; it was until he felt his back on soft, comfortable fur instead of the dry and coarse hay in his cage that the drowsiness left him, in its place alertness and shock. 

Mad Rat jerked up and turned around-- And found his companions resting peacefully, unaffected by the lab rat’s sudden movement: Heart had curled around Rat God and himself as he slept, ears occasionally twitching as he breathed with a steady rhythm; Rat God, resting closer to Heart’s tail, had even wrapped her paws around the fluffy appendage with her long lime hair falling to one side. At this very moment, there was no music being played, but he found himself relaxing from the quietude-- The stable heartbeat from the orange feline assured Mad Rat that everything would be alright, that things were how they were supposed to be.

Letting go of the tension upon his abrupt awakening, Mad Rat noticed a grey object-- It was the small cheese chunk from the previous night that he had kept in wrinkled wrapping paper. It was where he had left it last night, sitting a few steps away from himself. 

_What they have achieved the night before are indeed still here._

The scenery drew a smile from the lab rat.

Being able to see the morning while his companions were nearby to signal all of that did happen… It was a moment he wished to indulge in.

Mad Rat quietly watched the sleeping feline and rodent as they rested, the sky gradually turning brighter as time continued to pass.

* * *

The morning was halfway through when Heart and Rat God woke up-- Fully rested from the night, the trio went to the forest following their previous day. True to Heart’s suggestion, there were barely any humans in the woods despite the presence of artificial structures such as the wide, flat stone platforms on the way they looked for the black cat yesterday, or the entrance to the sewers further in the forest.

The thought of the sewers reminded Heart of the time he had spent there with Mad Rat: The hallucinations of ghost rats, the escape with the black cat from the surging sewage, and… There was also the hilariously ugly doodle that Mad Rat claimed to be his ‘cute face’. While they could still remember the events of what had supposedly happened before, it was clear that the doodle would be undone as well with the rewound time.

_That doesn’t mean we can’t create it again, though!_

As Heart stared at a large rock near the tree they were resting after exploring a portion of the forest, the thought was fueled with motivation and the feline convinced the two other rats to join him on the idea.

“Why do you want to doodle all of a sudden, Heart?” Despite the questioning tone, the lab rat was curiously gazing at his friend as he raised the question.

“Only you got to doodle last time, Mad Rat, I want to try it out too!”

“Doodling sounds fun to do!” Rat God chimed in as she observed the stone with excitement. “There are so many things to draw...”

Finally settling down and finding space between the two rodents, Heart raised his paw and drew the first stroke-- And ended up etching three lines on where he was aiming at.

_Whoops._

The feline tried once more, wary of his claw, but another scratch ruined what he was trying to draw with the two unintended lines. 

He tried again and again, but to no avail-- His cat paws were not as dextrous as his gloved hands in the way he wanted them to be. It was already difficult for him to control his paw such that he would not scrape where he did not intend to, let alone attempting to doodle. 

Heart sighed and glimpsed at the work of the two rats: Mad Rat’s doodle was similar to that from before-- Still barely recognizable, but Heart found himself smiling at the familiar doodle (partially, it was due to how ugly it was-- But he tried not to focus on that); Rat God had already doodled herself and was carving something that resembled a piece of cheese among the various things they had seen on their way. The lines, unlike his and Mad Rat’s, were fine and careful, and it was hard to believe she had not done this before-- The doodles were very similar to the actual objects, including the doodle of herself.

“You are really good at doodling, Rat God!” Heart commented as he admired the drawings.

The winged rat chuckled, still focused on the cheese that she was drawing. “It’s similar to imagining the illusions, only that they are real!” She nodded to herself with satisfaction as she added the last touch and then glanced at the surface that Heart was facing, confused by the absence of doodles. 

“Why haven’t you drawn anything, Heart? Don’t you want to try doodling?”

“I do, Rat God, but I can’t seem to get my paws to do that...” The orange cat frowned as he stared at the space but quickly recovered and smiled, “That’s alright, though! I am content with watching you two doodle!” 

“Nonsense! You said you want to try that too, Heart!” Mad Rat joined in as he studied the claw marks that Heart made on the stone. The feline tilted his head in an attempt to see the rat’s expression--

“That’s right...! We can make a doodle of Heart!” Exclaiming as he turned to the smooth surface, Mad Rat’s eyes glittered with zeal; Rat God, too, was excited as she eagerly fluttered next to the lab rat. “I want to help too, Little Rat!”

Heart stood back as the two rodents enthusiastically stepped in and took his place. He could notice that Mad Rat would tense whenever Rat God was getting too close to himself, but the lab rat would recover quickly as if that did not happen. Despite that interaction, whenever the feline tried to take a look at the doodle-in-progress as the two drew, one of them would always use their body to block it from his view when the other turned around and studied him… It was a coordination that the feline had not seen coming at all.

“There you go!” 

“It’s ready~!”

Eventually, the two rats announced with a grin and stepped away from the doodle, gazing at the feline expectantly. Behind them were lines that resembled a cat’s face and body-- A roughly drawn heart was right under the cat’s face as the heart was in the middle surrounded by fine lines that almost impeccably formed the cat’s body. While the lines that formed the face were rigid and the left eye was slightly off position (being a little too close to its cheek), Heart could clearly see himself from it: ‘Ugly’ was not a word he would use to describe the face-- It resembled him even if the lines were slightly wonky; the cat’s body was nearly flawless, and it still baffled Heart that Rat God could create such doodle despite the lack of previous practice.

It didn’t take long for Heart to notice that whiskers were missing from the cat doodle.

“Well?” Mad Rat’s grin widened, “We need your help to finish the doodle, Heart!”

The feline immediately beamed and approached the stone upon the request. Carefully, Heart assumed where the whiskers should be drawn and finally raised his paws, creating the strokes-- He was still unable to control his claws and the doodle of himself ended up having three whiskers on each side instead of two, but he did not mind the extra whiskers.

_This is perfect._

Standing away from the smooth surface, Heart admired the wall of doodles _they_ had created: Their doodles were all up there, and this time there would be nobody to erase them. 

Heart continued to survey all of the doodles on the stone, but found himself focusing on the doodle of himself and Mad Rat’s, bothered by the completely different presentations of the two scribbled portraits: How was Mad Rat able to doodle his face with much greater accuracy when the lab rat’s own portrait was almost completely distorted? 

There was something off about the seemingly disproportionate rat doodle, but Heart couldn’t tell what exactly it was-- It was probably his imagination, wasn’t it?

Ugly or beautiful, it was their work and Heart would not want it any other way.

* * *

After finishing up with the doodles, the trio continued to explore the forest, visiting where they had not been to the day before. On their way there were a few stray rats that gathered around, but as soon as they noticed the presence of the orange feline, they immediately dissipated as if they had not been there before-- Heart was glad that rats were smart creatures just as the lab rat claimed.

Not so long after encountering the stray rats, the sound of flowing water made itself prominent to the three creatures. 

Glancing around, Rat God noticed the reflective surface just a little bit ahead of them.

“Look! Is that a creek over there?” She pointed out before fluttering ahead, excited to see it herself. Heart followed behind with a slower pace (he could sense the lab rat’s nervousness with how tense he suddenly became), and as he stepped past the small bushes he saw the stream that they heard. 

Carefully letting Mad Rat off his back, Heart approached the edge of the creek-- Unlike the opaque, stale puddles they had crossed before, the stream was pristine and transparent, completely unpolluted compared to what he could find in the city.

“I have never seen water this clean before!” He commented with amazement and lowered his head, drinking from the stream. Watching the feline, the winged rat knelt and cupped her paw as she scooped up some water, carefully examining the transparent liquid. Unlike cheese, the water was odourless and unlike what she had remembered it to be from the memories of her hosts, the liquid was not opaque at all. 

She carefully took a sip from the water cupped in her paws and observed it again. “Is the water supposed to be tasteless?”  
“It is! Even though it doesn’t carry any flavour, it is refreshing!” 

“Is it hard to find clean water in the city?” Mad Rat spoke up as he took tentative steps towards the flowing water, studying it while keeping his distance. 

Heart raised his head as he pondered, “It is rare, but it is not that bad most of the time! I only--” 

The loud sound of stomach rumbling interrupted Heart, and the said cat immediately blushed in embarrassment, finding himself to be the source of the noise. 

Mad Rat chuckled at and unwrapped the cheese chunk that he was holding and held it in front of the feline. “It may not be much, but it should make you feel better!”

“Mad Rat...” Heart frowned, tail slowly flinging itself from one side to another. “But what about you? You have not eaten anything at all.”

The rat in question shook his head without hesitation, still grinning. “I’m not hungry. Besides, I already know how cheese tastes so it doesn’t matter-- I want you to have it, Heart!”

“...Please?” Seeing the feline’s hesitation, the lab rat prompted again.

Heart gazed at the lab rat then Rat God, who nodded approvingly at the decision, and finally accepted the piece of cheese. Before yesterday, he hadn’t thought much about the yellow treat despite his curiosity, but now there suddenly wasn’t enough cheese around-- He wanted Mad Rat and Rat God to be able to enjoy delicious food as well, and those were rare to come by when you were a stray cat.

 _Hang on... We can go to_ _that place_ _!_

“I have an idea! Before we return to the rooftop tonight, there is somewhere we can go to for nice food!”

Despite Heart’s keenness, the lab rat seemed concerned about the proposal. “We can look for food in the forest, it should be safer here than in the city, Heart. I am sure any food out here would already taste much better than those bland pellets in the lab.”

“I have been there before so there is nothing to worry about, Mad Rat! It may sound risky, but…”

 _...It is completely worth the trouble,_ the feline decided to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though it is estimated that there will be a total of 16 chapters for this story, plot-wise this is where we are half-way through!
> 
> This is also where the fun begins...


	8. Devastating Risk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! It is now 2021, and I hope that everyone has been having a good time so far!  
> I would like to express my thanks to you, who is now reading this story, as it means a lot to see that this fanfiction is able to bring enjoyment to the others as well.

The trio’s trip back to the city was relatively uneventful: They had not come across any other creatures on their way back, and neither the little girl and the black cat was there.   
Heart travelled towards the destination he had in mind through the top of the buildings and the platforms that stuck on their exteriors, choosing to avoid gaining attention from humans and take the longer but safer path just like the previous day, if not a long trip. Taking a few more turns, Heart knew he was at the right place, between the two grey buildings the cues his goal. He had let his friends off his back before leaping onto the edge of the wall, and looking below was a narrow alley with a shut door on one side, and to the opposite of the door were what the feline had come here for: Fresh food discarded in easily torn-open transparent bags.

“It looks so dark down there…” Rat God hovered next to Heart as she inspected what was below nervously, but the cat’s enthusiasm remained undiminished as he chirped excitedly. “Humans would come out from this door and throw out edible food every day around this time. We are lucky that no other strays are here yet!”

“Stay here and wait for me to come back! I will bring back something nice!” 

Just as Heart was about to move, he felt a light tug at his tail-- He looked down and met the eyes of his grey friend. “Why are you going alone? We can follow behind without being carried just fine.”

“No, Mad Rat. It is dangerous down there. There’s no telling when other strays would show up.” The response got a frown from the lab rat, but the feline cut him off before he could start his argument. “It is fine, I will be back shortly!”

Heart disappeared off the ledge after the reassurance, leaving the two rats alone on the rooftop.

“Heart is acting a little weird…” Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Mad Rat continued to frown. “He wants us to stay close earlier but now he just leaves us here… That doesn’t add up. What do you think, Rat God?”

Even though she had the idea clearly, the winged rat decided that her previous conversation with Heart was not something the orange feline would have wanted the other rat to know-- And she simply shrugged. “I think it is reasonable, why move around when we can wait here instead? It would also be more troublesome if he has to carry both us and whatever he wants to take with him.”

Mad Rat shot a questioning glance at the winged rat, but he did not seem to be suspicious of her comment as he sat down and waited for the orange cat to return as instructed. 

* * *

Safely landing on the ground of the alley, Heart quickly approached the pile of bags-- There should be enough time for him to get what he needed before the other stray animals arrived, but he had no reason to waste any of that. While it was hard to imagine a reason that humans would dispose of food that did not seem rotten at all (on the contrary, those leftover foods looked fresh), it was thanks to their inexplicable habit that he no longer had to hunt another life-- Not like this was the proper time to question the logic of humans, either.

Heart first attempted to carry a bag that contained something suspiciously resembling melted cheese, but it was too heavy for him to even lift it to inspect the contents properly; there was another bag right next to the first one which smelt nice, but whatever was inside seemed too liquidy for the other two rodents to consume… After going through many other bags that were lying around, the feline finally found a bag that contained various fruits and he was able to hold the bag using his jaw. Just as Heart was about to turn and leave the alley through the platforms behind himself, he heard something shifting behind-- And it was no sound from a stray animal.

Heart turned around and found himself face-to-face with a tall man who had knelt behind to observe him.

_ This is bad. Very bad. _

The human that appeared out of nowhere was blocking his only path to reach the higher platforms ( _ How could he let his guard down here of all places...?! _ ), and he couldn’t just dash past the human to escape-- He couldn’t leave Mad Rat and Rat God behind in a place where stray cats will show up any moment, especially when the stray animals would do  _ anything _ for a filled stomach.

_ He should have known better than rashly coming here. _

The feline could only hope that the human would leave him alone once he was done watching him, or he could scare him into leaving-- Letting go of the bag of fruits, he glowered as he bent down and hissed at the human. However, the tall human did not seem to be fazed by the hostility, eyes still fixed on the feline-- Or more precisely, the cordate patch of fur on his chest. 

* * *

The contradictory behaviours, the lack of discussion regarding their situation….

_ Something still feels off about this _ , Mad Rat pondered in silence while Rat God was close by, carving various shapes onto the grey concrete wall as both rats waited for the feline to return. As he was trying to figure out the reason behind Heart’s odd behaviour, he felt a change in himself.

_ Thump, thump, thump, thump! _

Placing his paw on his chest, Mad Rat could tell that the change in rhythm was no hallucination-- It turned faster all of a sudden despite the lack of vigorous movement from himself, and the same went for the melody.

_ That means…! _

Hurriedly getting onto the ledge as he called the winged rat over, the two of them looked down… And in the dark, they spotted a human cornering the feline who was running out of space to move away from the said figure. Without a second thought, the lab rat leapt from the rooftop and scaled down through the platforms, towards Heart and the human; Rat God was about to do the same when a familiar sense of dread crept up to her-- Just like the feeling back in the lab when the human was closing in on her and Heart.

_ Don’t go! It is dangerous! _

_ Don’t you remember what a human is capable of?! _

_ You’ll get yourself killed if you help the cat!!! _

Without warning, thoughts of possible incidents flooded her and she clutched her head, nearly drowned in fear again-- “ _ That isn’t true!”,  _ she wanted to quell the voices, but she realized that she had lost her voice to the noises in her mind…

Yet, amongst the screaming noises, there was something different that presented itself clearly--

_ “I believe you will be able to overcome your instincts as well, Rat God!” _

The words continued to echo, and the winged rat found her trepidation fading along with the voices that did not belong to her, replaced with another feeling that fueled her readiness to act. 

_ That is right… Whatever it says, it isn’t true! She isn’t powerless! _

_ Heart believes in her, and Heart needs her help! _

With a boosted leap, Rat God hopped off the ledge and started descending as well. She did not require the reassurance of rewinding time, nor did she need a perfect plan to make sure that everything was in control-- Even if there was no perfect plan, she did not want to sit and watch Heart be in danger just to remain safe.

This thought… The feeling that she had this very moment was what she had been trying to understand-- And she seemed to have understood what it was.

Heart squealed as the large hand took hold of the loose fur on the back of his neck and lifted him off the ground. The tall human stared at him while spurting inscrutable noises with what the feline could assume as excitement. He tried to wiggle out of the human’s hold and scratch the arm that was holding him, but it was futile-- The grip was too strong and the human had maneuvered a position such that Heart could not reach him at all.

When familiar voices rang from above, Heart finally noticed the two descending rodents. 

“Leave Heart alone, stupid human!!” Mad Rat screeched as he latched himself onto the human’s arm and bit down hard. Despite the pained yowl from the human, he didn’t let go of Heart; instead, the human attempted to grab and yank the gloved rodent off himself with his free hand.

Utilizing the moment of distraction that the lab rat created, Rat God leapt from a higher platform and aimed for the human’s head-- But an abrupt turn that he took to shake off the other rodent was too quick for her to redirect herself, rendering her jump off-target. She landed near the pile of bags, fortunate to have avoided the human’s notice, but the relief quickly turned to horror as the body of the lab rat flew past her, colliding forcefully with the brick wall and dropped limply onto the pile of plastic bags; The man did not hesitate to sprint away as he rid himself of the rodent that leapt onto himself, still gripping Heart by the back of his neck, who was struggling with even greater ferocity.

“Oh no… The human is going to get away!!” There was nothing Rat God could use to gain height in time for a second time, and there was no time to hesitate-- Rewinding was not an option, and as much as she was afraid of getting hurt... She had to try. 

“I will go after the human and help Heart!” 

Taking a short glimpse at the bag pile that Little Rat had fallen into, Rat God quickly lifted herself to chase after the fleeing human. However, as she attempted to take flight, she finally realized a weakness of her new body-- Her means of hovering was no means of moving quickly, and actually moving by her legs, especially running, was wearing her out much sooner than she expected. When the human reached the road and turned, Rat God was still struggling to catch up, switching between hovering and running; just as she thought the human was going to get away, the lab rat that she thought had been knocked out dashed past her in pursuit of the human.

“W-Wait… Wait for me!” The winged called out and attempted to dash again, but she had run out of breath-- And could only watch the figures moving farther and farther from herself.

* * *

Paying no attention to the bursting pain on his chest, Mad Rat continued to sprint-- Where he had hit the wall on hurt badly, but he couldn’t stop and let his friend fall into the hands of humans again. 

“Heart!!” He screamed, and heard his friend answer back as he was trying to get away from the human’s grasp. Their distances had barely shortened, but the human stopped next to the basket attached to something with two wheels, and a familiar cage was quietly lying inside-- One with a green roof and metal case.

Heart visibly paled at the sight. The urge to rewind time quickly surfaced, but the feline suppressed it before it could even attempt to grow--  _ He couldn’t do that, not with the stakes that were here. _

“Mad Rat, I can’t hang on for long...!!” 

The feline squealed in fear as the human snapped open the cage roof. He tried to stay stiff and stop the human from stuffing him into the vertically placed cage, but it was as if the human knew what he wanted to do: With his free hand he removed half of the lid in a swift motion and the unexpecting feline fell in before he could react to it.

Following the closure of the cage lid was a metallic ‘clink’ that signalled the cage lock being shut.

Before Mad Rat could reach the wheels of the vehicle, it started moving. The melody was turning more frantic every passing beat, and it was difficult to follow with how he almost tripped over himself-- But he regained balance before it could happen, still attempting to keep up with the vehicle.

The lab rat never stopped running nor did he slow down, but the distance between him and his friend continued to grow even when he was dashing as fast as he could.

(The melody was growing lighter.  _ Heart’s beat _ was growing fainter.)

Mad Rat could feel his body becoming heavier and it was getting difficult to keep dashing, but he focused and held onto the string of heartbeat from the orange feline. 

“Heart!! Why aren’t you doing anything?! Just rewind time already!!” He pleaded desperately, but the faint rattling of a metal cage was the only response that came to his ears. 

As the vehicle escalated in speed, even the last bit of melody ceased altogether. Mad Rat couldn’t feel Heart anymore and everything came crashing down in a matter of seconds: Where he had landed on the wall immediately brimmed with pain and he collapsed with weight and ache, unable to keep moving.

“No…!!!”

Mad Rat tried to push himself up, but he already knew that even if he could get onto his feet, it was already impossible to catch up with the fleeing two-wheeled vehicle. Just like the black dot that finally disappeared down the path, the last bit of glowing light had also vanished from the dark sky. 

Burdened by exhaustion and anguish, he lay on the cold ground as he stared at where Heart had disappeared to until he could no longer stand the ache from his body, unresponsive to the urging squeaks directed at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, this is where the fun begins indeed... (-Quiet mumble- There is inaccuracy in this chapter such as the type of cage that is used here should not let you open up the cage lid without using both hands and holding a furious cat, I hope that it does not stand out too terribly. > <)  
> Heart has been kidnapped, and Mad Rat is back to his supposed deteriorating state... What is a winged rat to do in such a dire situation?


	9. Disheartening Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels like I have taken a long time to finally finish this chapter... With school starting the chapters may overall take longer to finish (and hopefully not as long as this one > <), but I will keep working on this story!

“Little Rat? Little Rat! Come on, wake up!” Rat God knelt beside the lab rat, nudging him as she hurriedly urged. However, no matter how she tried, the grey rat still lay motionless on the cold ground, eyes closed and completely limp.

Heart was taken away by a human, and now Little Rat did not seem to be responsive at all despite her continued attempts of urging the lab rat to wake up...

Among the mess that she was in, Rat God remembered well about the warning that stray animals would roam here-- She had little time to decide what to do next, and stagnating on the spot would be the worst possible choice.

She had to get him to safety before they were noticed by any stray animals.

Ceasing her attempts to wake the other rodent up, Rat God reached her paws under the other rat’s back and lifted the other rat, her wings fluttering to let her remain airborne as she did so. There was barely any time for her to regain her strength and just like running, it was quickly tiring her out. However, the false goddess held onto it-- She wasn’t about to lose her other companion as well. 

It took Rat God great effort to successfully drag the lab rat to a safe location-- A crevice in the wall of a nearby building, dark but secluded space that was safe from the reach of larger creatures such as cats. By the time she did so, her limbs felt sore and the winged rat wanted to do nothing but sit still and rest. 

It was tiring, but she did it-- None of the stray animals could get them here and they were in no danger.

However...

The winged rodent’s gaze fell at the sight of the unconscious lab rat: There were still no signs of him waking up, and his breathing was light... Too light, as if it could go out at any moment because what sustained it was no longer present.

She grew sullen at the thought of the orange feline. She was unable to do anything when he was captured; and now, she did not even dare to take the only option she could do to save him, just because she was worried that she would cease to exist as a rat.

Taking the magenta top hat off and holding it with one paw, Rat God curled up around herself. _What if rewinding time is safe all along, and none of what they have thought about would happen?_ She clenched her paws tightly and wrinkles formed on the brim of her top hat. She was angry at her cowardice, but the anger quickly dissolved as the false goddess reminded herself of the hopeless situation, and she was miserable once more. Heart along with Little Rat were the only companions she had had in her life, with most of her time spent inside a host-- And no hosts would acknowledge the presence of a parasite in their body, let alone care about the feelings of one. Despite all that she had done, the lab rat had tolerated her and the feline considered her to be a friend, and together they had been companions in the day. Not just any day, either: She had experienced so much more than before, from understanding the new feelings to having fun and enjoying herself... She wanted to continue to stay by their side, but if she became a parasite again... None of that could happen.

With just a snap of her fingers, she could summon the clock to rewind time. She only had to convince herself to do so; yet, she was unable to nip her worries, _her fears_ , no matter how hard she focused on the ‘what-if’ of the situation. She couldn’t bring herself to do it even though no voice had sought to stop her... Her worry about returning to being a parasite was the only thing in the way, but it was proven to be enough to achieve that and she hated it.

(Heart was gone because she couldn’t stop the human and Little Rat was going to die because he no longer had Heart’s support... _She had failed them._ )

What was there left to do? She knew nothing about where Heart was taken to and it was likely that the lab rat would remain unconscious until his heart stops beating, just like the first time after the transplant had taken place and she watched as his life faded away. She didn’t want to see that, but there was almost nothing that she could do-- Nothing except a risky option; risky, but also the only chance of changing the foreseeable end that awaited the lab rat.

“Let me save you, Little Rat...” 

The false goddess whispered even though the other rat could not hear her, and gently held his forehead with both of her paws as she focused. If she could manipulate him into seeing her whenever he fainted while she was still a parasite in the lab rat’s head... It might also be possible to reach him this way. 

With the thought in mind, Rat God started imagining her hallucination-- A hallucination of herself in the lab rat's mind. There was no way for her to tell what went on in his head because she was no longer there, and she could only hope that he had heard her voice. 

* * *

When the lab rat’s whiskers twitched, Rat God finally retracted her paws and scooted away from the now-conscious rodent with a relieved and overjoyed sigh.

“Little Rat! You're awake!”

The rat in question groaned as he attempted to sit up while squeezing his eyes at the excruciating pain from his chest, but his body hurt too much to let him do anything aside from lying still. Nonetheless, he chuckled weakly as he gazed at the other rat’s concerned eyes, “I almost thought that... You were in my head again...”

“How are you feeling?”

“N-Not too good, but I’ll be fine...”

Mad Rat’s gaze shifted around as he was lying on the ground, studying the surroundings of where they were in and then placed his paw on his chest-- His heartbeat was once again irregular.

“Hey... Why haven’t we rewound time?” 

How pale the lab rat looked was giving rise to sadness the winged rat did not realize herself was holding, and her voice quavered despite her attempt to hide it. “I am sorry, Little Rat... I couldn't save Heart.”

“T-That’s alright... I might still be able to... Rewind time! Just let me--”

“No, that isn’t what I meant!” 

Rat God blurted out, and immediately flinched at her words-- The other rodent stared at her, also shocked but for a different reason. Mad Rat attempted to adjust to a sitting position again, and with his recovered strength was finally able to do so. 

“What is it then, Rat God...?”

“...If we rewind time, something bad might happen.” 

The false goddess responded with reluctance and the other rat scowled while glaring sharply at the winged rodent. He tightened his fists as he tried to yell, but the pain on his chest promptly reminded him that he was in no shape to shout. The best he could do was huffing as he clutched his chest again.

“What could be worse than... Having Heart kidnapped... By a human?!” 

“Little Rat, it’s--”

“He is kidnapped by a human... They would do anything to... Satisfy their stupid curiosity! We have to--”

“...It’s us.” 

It was a tiny whisper, but the lab rat heard it clearly despite his rage; knowing that she now had his attention, Rat God grew quieter as she continued to elaborate to the astonished rodent. “I talked to Heart last night, and he told me that... He was worried that if we rewind time, whatever happened to us will also be undone...”

“...So you will turn back to a parasite while I will die as I was supposed to.” Mad Rat finished for the other rat who nodded grimly at the statement. 

“...I am really sorry.”

“He didn’t rewind time... Because of us...”

Anger fizzled out completely, the lab rat murmured with blankness as he comprehended the information while Rat God watched him silently, anticipating a reaction. She had expected furious yells from her companion, or perhaps he would demand her to leave him alone and never return-- But none of that had happened.

“Rewinding time isn’t the only way to get Heart back... We can still go and find him ourselves.”

The lab rat was still gazing at her, but his gaze had softened and there was no longer a trace of ire. 

“But...”

“Rat God, like you have said before... Everyone has the right to take a bite out of their special treat... And that includes you. I am not going to ask you to sacrifice yourself for my wish... Not when I get a say in it this time!” 

“...”

Mad Rat huffed at the still dispirited winged rodent and opened his arms. _It may not be the brightest idea, but..._

“Want a hug? It might make you feel better-- W-Whoa!”

Almost immediately as he offered, the winged rat had lurched forward and pulled the lab rat into a hug. Despite Rat God’s larger body, she was much lighter than he had imagined and the urge to shrink away was negligible; he circled his arms around her, returning the hug. Droplets of water soaked his fur, but Mad Rat paid no mind to that as the other rodent sobbed onto his shoulder.

“W-What if we c-couldn’t save him from the human...?”

“We can do this... I am sure of it, Rat God!”

With no indication of his chest pain in the tone, the lab rat consoled her. Rat God could feel the warmth from the other rat as she held him close-- He was still alive, and he wasn’t giving up.

_She shouldn’t give up, either._

The two rodents remained in the hug for a while longer until the false goddess felt the other shifting, presumably from pain. Swiftly but gently, she let go of the lab rat, no longer crying.

“T-Thank you, Little Rat. I feel much better now.”

“Let’s go and find Heart, then...!” The lab rat grinned just as she did, and with sluggish movement turned towards the opening that revealed the outside world. However, Rat God hovered ahead and blocked his way before he could go further. “Wait, Little Rat! How do you plan to find the human?”

“If we follow where he has gone... We might figure something out.”

“We need a plan before we leave! There are stray animals outside, Little Rat. We can’t risk gaining their attention by blindly searching outside, and you can’t dash without Heart’s help...”

“About that...”

Backing away from the confused false goddess, Mad Rat closed his eyes and focused, recalling the melody that Heart had shared with him while ignoring that of his own. Following the beat in his mind, Mad Rat took a step forward, and then a larger one...  
Rat God did not expect the lab rat to move at all-- While he was still slow, he was able to _move_ instead of limping around. However, just as the lab rat was about to dash again after he repeated the move twice, he halted in his track and clutched his chest, heaving as he wobbled onto the ground.

“Little Rat?!”

“Dammit... I-I thought it’d work again...”

Sitting down with the help from the winged rat, he sighed. “It worked... When I was trying to catch up with the human... Maybe I just need to rest for a little longer...”

“You are going to hurt yourself doing that!” Rat God was far from pleased despite his previous display. 

“I don’t care, Rat God...! What matters is that we can go and find Heart...” Despite his words, the gloved rodent knew it was true: There was no way he could go and search for his friend when he couldn’t even move more than a few meters, and their goal, wherever that was, would forever be out of reach at this rate.

_...Their goal...?_

Mad Rat mused over the thought, and then, an idea found its way to him.

(As much as he hated being a lab rat, he was glad to be born a smart animal.)

* * *

“Hey, Rat God...!!” Mad Rat exclaimed to the winged rat who was peeking outside, and she hid under the crevice again and close to her companion. “What’s wrong? Have you come up with a plan?”

“I got an idea just now... And I need your help!” The enthusiasm seemed to have spread to the winged rat as well, who squeaked eagerly at the request. “Of course! I’ll do what I can to find Heart!”

Facing the false goddess, Mad Rat gestured at himself as he uttered confidently: “Make me hallucinate again, Rat God!”

“Are you out of your mind?!” The false goddess chided, startled and upset at the lab rat’s recklessness. “You saw what happened to the human back in the lab-- Why would you want to end up like that?”

The warning did not deter him in the slightest. “Your ability to create hallucinations is still intact, right?” Pausing to see the winged rat’s bemused but affirmative nod, Mad Rat grinned and continued, “Do you think the hallucinatory cheese you create will lead me to a cat?”

Rat God quickly caught onto what he was planning, and the look of realization widened the lab rat’s grin. “We may have lost track of the human... But the cheese can take us to Heart!”

The winged rat pondered carefully at the proposal-- There was something else that had not been accounted for.

“Even if we do have a way to track down Heart, how would you be able to get there if you are still as sluggish as you are now?”

The lab rat placed his paw on his chest as he replied, his confidence unwavering. “It is just like when you taught me about the ‘hidden power’, Rat God-- Give me a beat to focus on! It doesn’t need to be real... If I can convince myself that it is!”

“You want me to create an auditory hallucination on top of that...?!”

The winged rat received an eager nod as a response and she frowned. It was a good plan: It was possible for her to create the hallucinations and it would be the fastest way to find Heart, but hallucinations were hallucinations-- They could not replace the real deal. Not to mention...

“You won’t be able to tell apart cats from cheese under the hallucination, Little Rat. Are you sure about this?” 

“Yeah… We don’t have time to waste... And it is the best option I can think of!” 

Rat God sighed at the other rodent’s resolve-- He was still an impossible target to persuade, but she understood his stubbornness for once: Both of them wanted to save Heart no matter what it takes, and as he said, they were running out of time.

Receiving one last nod from the gloved rat, Rat God approached him and carefully placed her paws on the sides of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dialogues between Mad Rat and Rat God took much longer than I thought it would despite the planned flow as I have had a hard time getting the right words!  
> While in the game there is not much given from Rat God about what she thinks of herself being a parasite outside of survival, I wondered if she would ever seek companion given how there was literally nothing else in a host's head... It would be very boring and lonely like that.


	10. Durance Repeated

His strength utterly drained, Heart could merely lie still in the cage as the vehicle he was taken away on ran its course on the road even if his anxiety urged him to struggle and not stay here for a moment longer-- The very cage he was in at the moment was the same that he arrived at the laboratory in. 

_Is this the human that tried to operate on him?_ The orange feline tried to recall the human’s visage, but his attempt was in vain: Whatever the human was wearing back then, it covered his face completely and there was nothing to compare any salient features with. 

There was nothing that he could do at all despite the questions and emotions that swarmed his mind, and the more he worried the more he grew tired atop of the exhaustion from flailing wildly. 

Heart tried his best to keep his eyes open, fighting the exhaustion that threatened to send him into slumber with the constant reminder that he must remain alerted to catch an opportunity to escape; Yet, despite the resistance the orange cat had put up, his drowsiness grew stronger the longer he attempted to stay awake and the feline eventually drifted into slumber as darkness veiled his vision. 

* * *

…

The feline could feel a constant but mild shaking in the dark which was comforting and almost inviting for another nap. Heart yawned and stretched his body-- And collided with a cold surface. Immediately, the sleepiness fled from his mind as he remembered the situation he was in and snapped awake. He was still encaged, but there was light spilling in through the gaps on the cage’s gate and he could hear footsteps right next to him-- It seemed that he was being carried by the human and no longer on a vehicle. Inching a little closer to the gate, Heart pushed against it with his paw but the gate did not budge in the slightest, to his disappointment: The cage was too secured to be forced open inside and the rest did little to recover his strength. He must escape using the first opportunity he would get: When the human attempted to take him out of the cage. Without the ability to rewind time, he had only one chance-- With the thought in mind, Heart waited for his fate to be revealed in silence and trepidation. 

Eventually, of the many buildings they have passed, he was brought to a box near the corner of the street still glowing among other buildings on their way. Heart could hear a door being pushed open and the transparent obstacle in his sight giving away, and bright white light enveloped him. His pupils constricted under the strong light, and with the shifted vision noticed that he was now in a large and clean room with benches on the side with a faint scent of disinfectant in the air.

_This... Isn’t the laboratory?_

Heart squinted in an attempt to study his surroundings further, but even with the presence of gaps, his vision was limited and he could barely see the small chairs on the side. The man holding him did not take any seats and continued to move forward-- And this time, a white door stood in their way. 

A man’s deep grumble reached his ears, and then there was the sound of something knocking on the wooden door. The door had not opened, but he could hear a new voice behind it, feminine and… Somewhat familiar?

After a brief moment, the door finally came open and the smell of disinfectant grew noticeably stronger. Heart peeked through the door’s gap: A rather large table was surrounded by benches on the side, and there were some other cages around. And on the bench on the opposite side, it was a relatively clean bench with several items carefully placed and grouped, and a space among them which was suspiciously-- No, _familiarly_ arranged…!

_I have been here before!_

The continuous astonishment mixed with anxiety was starting to overpower the cat’s lingering exhaustion-- This was where he had been the night before he was taken to the laboratory, and that must have been the reason that they kept him locked the whole time. 

For the feminine voice that spoke, Heart recognized it as well: It was the voice he woke up to when he first found himself in this cage. Despite his vision in darkness, he could only see something that resembled but different from the human in the laboratory’s attire.

There were also some other cages around, the faint chatter of other animals signifying their distant presences far from his cage placed on the opposite bench. With a day barely passed, it seemed like nothing much changed either-- And the female human’s decision on placing him on the same spot, among the other items on the tidy bench, was another evidence to that.

Heart fixed his gaze at the retreating figure and saw the human’s proper appearance for the first time: The woman with short, brown hair was wearing the same clothing as before. She was talking at him with a quiet and calm voice, but he couldn’t understand a single word. 

Being able to understand the words of a human had never been something he desired, but at the moment it was the very thing Heart wished he could do-- _Please let me go, I need to find my friends_ were words that the orange feline wished that the human could hear such that they might release him, but the human never stopped to listen to what he had to say, possibly assuming that _he_ was the one not listening. 

(It might have been an attempt to calm him, but how could he be, when he was locked in a cage and knowing nothing about the whereabouts of his friends?)

Eventually, possibly noticing his growing gloom, the human ceased talking at the feline and turned for the door after what seemed to resemble a sigh.

“Wait!” Heart called after the leaving human; just as how she was unable to understand the feline earlier, the human did not stay-- And the short “click” of a door signalled the human’s departure.

Heart was left in the room and his only companions some empty cages of various sizes. 

It would most likely be the same as before: They would leave him here for the night and send him to the laboratory when morning arrived, but there was no way he would sit and wait for that to happen when he knew nothing about what happened to Mad Rat and Rat God-- They might still be in the dangerous place lurking with stray animals, or worse, had already encountered them. If that was true, then the lab rat without his beat to support him, would...

…

What escape options were available? He had yet to regain his strength and there was no way he could escape safely, assuming that the lights not being turned off meant that either of the humans (or both) were still here. Heart mewled in frustration and studied the room again: He was facing various cages on the opposite side of the room, most of which were empty save for... 

The intense thoughts occupying his head had almost made the cat forget about the other residents in the room-- Afar from his cage were some mob rats-- No, rats that closely resembled them: They had white fur and very round ears like the other rats he had seen in the lab, but they were no test subjects as yellow tags were missing from their ears.

(He hoped that they were not on their way to become one like he was.)

The feline continued to study them as the white-furred mammals moved about in the cage, and one of the white rats might have noticed his prolonged gaze: Turning away from their companions, he (or she) approached the cage bars and stared back, paws holding onto the iron bars that fenced them in-- Somehow, the white rodent seemed more curious about him than being afraid of the presence of a potential predator.

Heart chuckled at the white rat’s silliness as they tried to stick their face onto the bars so that they could see him better. Even though they were caged, they seemed happy with each other’s companionship… Were they not curious about the outside world at all, like Mad Rat and Rat God?

Thinking about his friends made the feline grow melancholic and stopped him from diverting his thoughts away. However before he could focus on constructing an escape plan again, the white door was pushed open and two figures entered the room-- One of them he immediately recognized with the signature red ribbon tied on a straw hat.

The human child was talking gleefully to the woman from before as both of them walked in, but as soon as she spotted the orange feline, the little girl stopped talking and approached the bench that Heart’s cage was on, bending slightly to be face-to-face with the feline. Heart was still dumbfounded at her appearance, but he meowed in response to her approach and earned a smile in reciprocation-- An affirmation to their previous encounters. The child chirped happily and waved at him, but her smile slowly faded as she glanced around in search of something ( _his friends_ , Heart assumed) without success.

Watching the gestures exchanged between the little girl and the woman, Heart attempted to understand their interaction: She had pointed at him and then the white rats on the other side, and raised two fingers-- That might be her trying to tell the woman about his two rodent friends. She had also pointed at him and watched the other human shake her head and the little girl had appeared to be disappointed.

When they had finished exchanging words with each other, the woman had left the room while the little girl stayed and watched him: She had uttered softly sounds that the orange cat could not distinguish, but Heart found himself calming down from the soft gaze of hers-- As if she knew he was worried about his friends.

“Thank you, little girl.” Even if she could only distinguish a meow, Heart thanked the little girl, who then giggled and continued to talk. Regardless of their language barrier, the feline had found comfort in her soft and bright tone. She might not know all that had happened between them, but her sympathetic gaze was enough of a sign that she knew how much his rodent friends meant to him. While he was still confused and shocked to find the little girl here, her presence had soothed his trepidation, even if temporarily, and the feline was grateful. 

It was not long when the woman returned to the room, and the human girl turned to her when she noticed her presence. The taller human was in a completely different set of clothing, and the little girl, under the other human’s mild but keen prompts, finally stood up and moved away from Heart, saddened that she had to leave the orange cat. She took small and slow steps towards the woman while keeping eye contact with Heart-- Was she worried? 

Even if it was brief and nothing had changed in the short time they had spent together, Heart was glad to have seen the little girl here. He meowed and gazed at the direction of the doorway, prompting her to go-- And again, she seemed to understand what the feline thought, and despite her worried gaze she waved again at the feline and finally turned away, disappearing from his vision as well.

This time, when the door’s “click” went across the room, the lights had gone out completely.

* * *

  
_Now what?_

The little girl and the woman had both left, and Heart was still trapped in the cage not knowing if Mad Rat and Rat God were fine. He closed his eyes and recalled the moments that they had spent together, laughing and enjoying one another’s presence, but whatever he thought of would quickly shift to the last time he had seen them: Rat God pushing herself to flutter and catch up to the human but slowly drained of strength no matter what she did, and Mad Rat rushing to get him only to fall due to the extreme pain… And then, he stopped moving. 

Heart’s eyes snapped open, paws pinning his ears to his head as he forced himself to stop his thoughts. He wanted to believe he could figure a way to escape in time, but without him by his side, Mad Rat was running on limited time.

When he was first trapped here, alone and had no idea what would happen the next day, he had accepted it as he had nothing to live for; but now, there were friends that he must find again, and there was no way he would let the human in the lab take his life away when the lab rat had done so much to save him.

He studied what he could see again: Empty cages, the cage with several rats and the large table. There was not much that could help him escape and the feline deflated. Even if the odds were against him, he still had to try and get himself out-- Escaping the room shouldn’t be too difficult as long as he could move freely. 

Heart had grown even wearier from the train of thoughts, but he continued to construct a plan. 

After all, there was no telling how much time they had left-- For himself and his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite all the worries running wild in his head, Heart was still stuck in a cage... Without being able to tell what was going on.  
> The question of how Heart wounded up being caught by humans without noticing one (if his comment in 1-5 is interpreted correctly) has always bothered me, and this chapter is also a guess of how it might have come to be-- Being trapped in a cage and whisked away for an examination first, then being sent away to the laboratory the next day. It would have been difficult to not find a human tall if Heart has always been near some, and not as much if he had not gotten to see many up close.


	11. Readjusted Direction

The moment that Mad Rat felt the paws around his head, he had closed his eyes without a word and waited for the false goddess to make her next move; the other rodent observed him slowly relax from the stiffness caused presumably by the sensation of her touch and the ache in his chest. Opposite to the lab rat’s state, Rat God found herself growing more and more nervous as she readied herself to use her “powers” on him. There was no telling if anything would go wrong or if it would bring a permanent effect to her companion’s mind, but worried as she was, they did not have all the time to hesitate on the decision.

Not willing to delay any further, the winged rodent shaped her hallucinations: Rich, delectable cheese that showed the way to a cat, and a steady, upbeat melody that could lift spirits. She portrayed the cheese with the vivid memories that were created the day prior, finding herself placing as much hope as the other rat had in it-- _As much faith as the other rat had in her._

Rat God slowly retracted her paws when she decided that the contact had lingered long enough. Holding her breath, the rodent with a top hat clasped her paws close to her chest and backed away from the lab rat who slowly raised his head with closed eyes. She watched him hold a paw to his chest, tapping slowly with the hallucinatory beats that had manifested inside his head as he tried to move around. Discomfort was visible in the stiff movement and she was worried that her effort had only caused Mad Rat more pain; but unlike last time, when the rat had opened his eyes to dash back and forth, he did not fall. It started slowly, as if he was learning to walk again and about to trip over any moment, yet his movement had only gotten swifter as he went on-- Not as fast as before, but far from tumbling either. 

In response to her amazement was a gleeful squeak. “This is great! I can move again!!”

“What about the cheese?” Anticipating but also worried, Rat God raised her voice. The gloved rat approached the crevice with slower steps as he arrived at the edge-- And his determined expression confirmed that her other hallucinations were also working perfectly.

“Shall we go?” 

He had taken her line before she could speak it, but Rat God didn’t mind-- The reignited alacrity in his eyes already answered for him.

* * *

Scaling down from the wall, even with the assistance of Rat God’s hallucinations, had been a challenge: Even though he _felt_ light, his body was not truly free from the pressure of weight and the heaviness was followed by an ache for every hasty leap he took. Mad Rat had almost tripped over from a careless landing when the false goddess fluttered down to catch him before he would, and he was angered by how feeble he was-- There was no time for him to spend being weak. He muttered a thank-you and let himself free from her hold, ignoring the concerned and sorrowful look from the larger rat as he finally reached solid ground. 

The crevice was not that high up, but to his dismay, it had proven that his movements were not as effective as he wished them to be.

Mad Rat took a quick glimpse on the two sides, and it was apparent that the left side was where they had been-- The trail of cheese appeared from there and went on to the right. It was faint and it was more of a line that small cheese chunks falling on the road had formed instead of the cheesy scenery that he had seen before, but it was visible enough considering the dim surroundings that they were in.

The duo did not linger to check if there was anything in the alleyway if they took a left turn.

The yellow trail had led them far from where they started ( _or in reality not that far away as they were rodents covering a distance meant for machines_ , Rat God thought to herself). The journey was both worrying and tiring, and the winged rat could feel the foreign feeling of strain on her limbs that suggested a rising exhaustion from the prolonged sprint. She had wanted a brief moment to rest up and she was about to--

“Whoa!” The gloved rat halted in front of an alleyway, causing Rat God to stop abruptly as well.

“W-What’s wrong?” 

“There are multiple trails!” He clenched his paws, unwittingly placing one at his chest as he scowled. 

Rat God looked ahead-- The opening on the back seemed to be a road that mirrored the one they were standing on as they observed it, and in the way were some items haphazardly littered on the ground, grimy and dusty. 

“Does it go all the way to the other side?” Rat God asked tentatively, still studying the path they were supposed to go-- It was difficult to tell any traces of a cat now that she could no longer see the cheese.

“Yes, but not just that...” Mad Rat turned to the winged rodent briefly as he gestured at his right, at the hallucinatory cheese that he could see, “There’s cheese on the walls and platforms, too. It’s scattered everywhere, even to the side.”

The winged rodent did not like where that was heading towards. “Let’s keep going. Which way do you think it is?”

Mad Rat mused for a moment, taking in the surroundings and the amount of cheese that covered it. It seemed difficult for him to choose a way to go even with the presence of cheese, but he eventually made a decision and acted upon it. “This one!”

The gloved rat dashed into the alleyway and turned left, and Rat God was ready to set in motion as well when a small “clank” got her attention. She turned around, but there was nothing in her vision-- Nothing but a small metal cylinder rolling on the ground and stopping after a few spins.

She turned away to catch up with the other rat.

Once they were in the clear, Mad Rat had commented about the absence of molten cheese on the walls and Rat God wished that it was the right path that they were on; it was also then that she noticed about her companion-- Despite his distorted vision, Mad Rat had not hesitated on following the guidance of the hallucinatory cheese that the other rodent could not see up until they had been at a branching path, and he had not turned to ask if it was safe. He only ever stopped sprinting until they had to relocate the cheesy path and find the right way to go. 

The trail finally guided them to a veranda, on which was a presumably domesticated cat with white fur enjoying a nap. Rat God, luckily, reacted quick enough to grab the other rodent’s tail before he could leap towards the pile of molten cheese splattered on the platform.

(The knowledge that Little Rat would not have been able to see something that obvious somehow wavered her confidence, but she was resolved-- She had promised to guide him, and that was what she was going to do.)

Backtracking the trail that they were on, the duo were returning to the split paths-- But Mad Rat stopped again when they arrived at the fork a second time.

“Is something wrong, Little Rat? What do you see?” Rat God leaned forward and squinted, but everything seemed just like the way it was before they left for the first route they had decided on. The other rodent shook his head, visibly astonished and unnerved, “There isn’t this much cheese when we arrived!”

“Where?” The false goddess suppressed her underlying thought quickly, knowing that panicking would do more harm than good. 

Mad Rat gazed forward with increasing alertness. “The way we came from...” He paused briefly before continuing, “It’s completely splattered with cheese.”

“I don’t think it is safe to go that way.” Backing away from the pathway slowly, the lab rat glanced at his left instead. “...Let’s hope this is the right one.”

The other path they had been forced to take was not very promising: While the trail had seemingly led them somewhere, it had also gone far-- They would lose a lot of time if this was not taking them to Heart; yet, they had not seen anything that indicated the human had been here, let alone the presence of the orange feline, there were only tall metal poles that emitted faint glow of light that stood on the quiet and empty road.

_How long had they been running, and how much longer would it take for them to find Heart?_ They had only stopped to rest briefly after Little Rat almost leapt towards a cat back then, and aside from how tired she was, Rat God knew they were running short on time, and they could not rewind the past to regain the time they had spent searching.

Her ear caught a tiny shuffle from behind, and she immediately stopped. “Hang on…”

The other rodent glanced at her, bemused but silent at her gesture as Rat God turned around and looked at where they had come from.

She glanced around and took in the view: Nothing was found, but what odds were there that something would drop randomly onto the ground twice when she was not facing them?

When she raised her head, however, she spotted it-- Above the hedge was a brown cat, unkempt and wild, staring at them with glowing green eyes. Neither of them moved as their gaze met, and Rat God was about to start talking when the feline suddenly leapt at them.

“W-Watch out!”

Rat God tackled her companion forward as the cat jumped at them, narrowly getting both of them out of its landing spot.

Hurriedly the lab rat raised his head, but there was nothing he could spot-- Nothing but cheese, and an especially large chunk right in the middle of the path.

“What was that?!” He pointed at the large chunk of cheese and she answered quickly.

“It’s a huge cat!”

“A cat?! We have to--”

She grabbed his paw before Mad Rat could dash. “Wait, I can convince it to leave us alone! It’s going to chase us if we run away from it.” 

Rat God hovered slightly off the ground to face the cat at eye level, smiling as she started.

“Hello! We’re-- Eek!!”

Before the false goddess could finish her sentence, the cat had swung its claws at her which missed the target. The brown cat rumbled and a growl rose from its throat as it glared at the prey it missed, enmity made clear in the shrinking pupils. 

* * *

On a broad path that was wide enough for humans to walk on, they were at a huge disadvantage: The cat could easily catch up to them no matter how hard they try to outspeed it, and it might be aware of the said fact: It was toying with them as it nimbly hopped around and stroke them, enjoying their fright as it leisurely caught up with a few treads. However, the smug look on the cat did not last when the lab rat gained a high ground and charged at it with a vehement tackle, its effectiveness immediately made apparent: The cat yowled and its whiskers trembled in anger as it pressed its paws on its mutt.

“Come on, we don’t have time to waste!” Calling out to the false goddess, the lab rat resumed his sprint as he recovered from his landing; she glanced back at where the cat had been and she squealed in panic, “T-The cat disappeared!”

“Dammit, I can’t see it either! It’s just cheese everywhere...!”

A set of pipes were next to the next section of the path, and knowing that there was no hope of outrunning the cat on the broad road, Mad Rat immediately ran for the platforms sticking out on the side. Gripping on what he thought were the pipes was difficult as he could almost feel his gloves slipping from the cheese despite that being a supposed hallucination (and his movements were not as painless as he wished, but he did not dwell on it), though the lab rat still managed to get to the top.

It was not the way he had wanted to go, but it was the safer option for them.

“Get up here! We need to lose it!”

Gazing at the rat who was still at the bottom of the road, Mad Rat called.

Rat God leapt and grabbed onto a pipe just in time to avoid a scratch coming from below, and the cat jumped right after the spot she had been a moment ago. The chase was starting to wear her down, and Mad Rat must have noticed; he turned around and charged towards the large chunk of cheese that was jumping after the winged rat, landing an impactful kick on the unsuspecting cat’s left cheek and knocking it into a hard landing on the ground.

“I’ll hold it back! Keep going and find Heart!” Standing between the pipes and the cat, Mad Rat yelled. If there was any way to ensure that they would be safe, it was to remove the threat from harming anything else-- Even if he only had one chance to do it.

However, he felt a strong tug from his back and found himself being dragged away from the dazed cat.

“What are you doing, Rat God?!”

“I am not leaving you behind!”

“Th--”

“Just come with me, Little Rat!” He opened his mouth, but the false goddess stopped him before he could say anything, both with her preemptive speech and the visible distraught on her face-- And he didn’t want to see that expression on the winged rat again.

“...Alright. Let’s hurry!” 

* * *

The momentary stun the cat was in had gained them a headstart on the narrow way, but their luck did not last as they were faced with a tall wall with nothing to climb on with, another spot filled with melted cheese.

Mad Rat stood in front of the winged rat, guarding her against the large chunk of cheese that towered over them. 

“Stupid cat! Get any closer and I’ll make you regret this!”

_This was it._ It was either a fight or both of them getting eaten by the brown cat. Mad Rat was unable to see his opponent and the terrain had only increased his handicap further, but he was ready to fight just as he claimed he would even if it meant exhausting himself.

Unfortunate for the grey rat, his words had fallen to deaf ears despite the intimidation he had attempted to show as the brown cat raised its paws without hesitation. However, just as the feline was about to strike, it suddenly froze still in its spot, green eyes not focused on the two rats but something else and it almost looked shocked. Then, just as abruptly as it had decided to attack just now, the cat lowered its ears as it let out a whimper and backed away from the confused duo, turning around and going into a full sprint as if it was fleeing.

Perplexed and tensed, both of the rodents were still trying to comprehend the situation.

“Are we safe...?” Rat God whispered, her eyes watching the spot that the brown cat was on a moment ago. The chase had tired her out, and she sat down to relieve the sore feeling that had accumulated from all the running they had done earlier.

“This place’s full of cheese too, we have to go once we make sure the cat’s gone!” The lab rat glanced around, still on his guard, but there was nothing he could see-- Nothing except the yellow treat that led them there.

The false goddess stood up (albeit reluctantly) and looked around as well: The pipes that had been built into the wall continued to extend into the concrete block behind them, and the secluded space they were in, for some reason, was covered by a layer of man-made material, soft but worn out.

When she looked up and into the large gap above them, she finally realized that they were not alone-- Another pair of eyes were gazing intently at them in the dark. Her immediate reaction was to warn Mad Rat of the lurking presence behind them, but the shout in her throat died down as she stared at the blue eyes that returned the gaze.

Slowly, the figure emerged from the dark-- Or more precisely, its head did, and Rat God eagerly fluttered up to wrap her paws around the figure which made a familiar trilling sound.

“Kitty!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is difficult to imagine there is only one cat in such a large place-- There ought to be more cats in a city! And with the many trails created by them, it would be difficult to keep track of one, not to mention a time-demanding task.  
> (I have considered at some point if the type of trail should also vary between different cats, given the many types of cheese we have here-- Imagine the pure chaos if this was indeed the case!)


	12. Reason for Devotion

“Kitty? Wait... The black cat’s here?!” Mad Rat glanced around in search of the feline, and the cat in question trilled and moved forward to nudge the rat’s back as if responding to his confusion.

Turning around from the tickling feeling on his neck, another large chunk of cheese entered his vision. The lab rat had anticipated the cheese’s form and smirked, “I didn’t expect to find you here but I’m glad we did… I thought we’re going to get eaten!”

The dark feline howled with sadness at the comment, but the lab rat was unable to hear him, it seemed as he was still staring blankly at the cheese chunk, waiting for it to answer. When the grey rat saw Rat God staring and analyzing him, he crossed his paws at his chest. “...What?”

“Can’t you hear him, Little Rat?”

The lab rat gazed at the cheese chunk in front of him, who let out a smaller mew this time, and then at her again. “I can only hear your voice and the melody. Did he say something?” 

The statement dawned on her, and she found herself less ecstatic than before-- She forgot that her hallucinations would also dull the senses of the target.

The black cat withdrew himself into the gap howled again, seemingly disappointed by the lack of reaction.

“The hallucinations are probably causing this.” Mad Rat watched where the cheese had disappeared into and narrowed his eyes, “Can you remove them for a while, Rat God?”

“I don’t know, I have never removed a hallucination before.” Rat God paused and then added with worry, “Wait, that’ll stop the beats too!”

“That’s alright...” He shrugged nonchalantly, unbothered by the knowledge, and drew a paw close to his face. “I’ll do it the old-fashioned way!”

“Little Rat--!!”

Gritting his teeth, the grey rat slapped himself with a powerful strike.

The immediate collision was followed by a buzz in his head and the world shifted abruptly, vertigo accompanied by a wave of nausea. Mad Rat vaguely recalled the first time when he was out of range from Heart’s beat and experienced a similar feeling, but the pain-- Sharper, stronger-- Knocked the air out of him and he failed to keep his thoughts together. He was not certain how long it took for him to pull himself together, but when he had gathered himself again, the world was no longer brimming with yellow and instead replaced by white and grey; the ground, too, was solid but soft instead of slippery like how his mind convinced him was with all the cheese splattered across it. 

“--Are you alright?! That’s just stupid! You shouldn’t have...” Rat God knelt next to him, her high-pitched squeaks slowly becoming clear to him again.

“I-I’m fine… Heh, I thought you’d be... Used to seeing me... Faint already...” Mad Rat rasped as he commented, quieter than he had meant to be. He wanted to say something else, but the guilty look ( _did he catch that right?_ ) on the other rodent’s face smothered the idea.

The black cat might have been startled by the sudden change in the lab rat, full of vigour one moment but turning so weak at the next; he approached the lab rat slowly, who had not shrunk away from the larger creature that poked his head near. The combination of physical and mental exhaustion overwhelmed him, and he found himself too tired to be afraid of the feline in his proximity.

“I wish I have... Piece of cheese left for you, but we... Ate it already…” He sighed ruefully as he looked up at the cat. “When we find Heart again… I’ll bring something for you... When we show him where to find you.”

The mention of their friend seemed to have captured the black cat’s attention. Rat God struggled to distinguish the emotion that he was displaying (the black cat was almost inscrutable without his meows), but she decided that he deserved an explanation.

Fixing her magenta top hat and white tie back their places that had been messed up during the run, she started telling the black cat everything: The places they had been earlier, the topics they discussed and… The incident that happened. Her companion had joined in halfway when he managed to regain himself, and filled in parts for the false goddess as she described.

It pained her to retell how close they had been to save Heart from the human but failed miserably, and that she had to remind herself that she had failed him; however, having the other rat beside herself by her side was another reminder that her guilt was not hers alone, nor did she have to do it alone.

They were going to fix this, together.

“...And we ended up finding you.” Coming to a close, Rat God beamed slightly at the subject of her gratitude. “We’re really lucky to have found you of all cats, kitty.”

“We’re thankful and all, but we have to go... We don’t have much time.” 

Taking weighted steps away from the wall and towards where they came from, Mad Rat hopped past the two. “Goodbye, cat, and thanks for saving us again.” 

“Thanks, kitty. I hope we meet again soon!” 

Although a heavy feeling lingered, the winged rat agreed that they had to get moving-- Time was against them, she had taken enough rest and the other rodent claimed so too.

Rat God was hovering towards the lab rat when a large shadow leapt over their heads and blocked the lab rat from going further. She flinched out of anticipation of danger, but when nothing happened, she lowered her arms that she shielded her face with and saw that the grey rodent was equally stunned, albeit for a different reason--

The black cat, not hiding behind anything, was standing right in front of them.

* * *

Under the glimmering light provided by the moon combined with his vision in the dark, Mad Rat realized the black cat was considerably larger than Heart which explained his rather long neck that allowed him to reach out to light from the safety of darkness. The pair of blue eyes were glowing softer under the dim light, gazing right at him as their owner sat down with a tiny “meow”, ears pointed and tail flicked to one side.

Instinctively, the lab rat took a step back, the outline of a feline having startled him, and the cat watched the smaller animals study his form until they were ready to speak again.

“Y-You’re a huge cat...!” Mad Rat was alarmed, but there was also amazement with which the other rat also shared, her wings fluttering as she admired the black cat with enthusiasm. “Taller than the other cats we have seen, too!” 

The black cat let out a cheerful meow, happily taking in the compliments and leaned down in front of the two rats as he directed his gaze towards them.

The somewhat familiar gesture had allowed them to put two to two together in little time. 

“Are you telling us to... Get on your back…?” The lab rat offered a guess, subsequently shocked at the implication of the dark feline’s action. “Wait... You want to... Go with us?!”

He got another meow in response, louder than before, and the feline trilled again, confirming the idea.  
“Y-You can’t! It is... Too dangerous!”

Something in the black cat’s act enlightened Rat God: Even though the black cat had known Mad Rat briefly, somehow, he was willing to go out of his way to help them find Heart… He was willing to help some rat(s) which he had considered food prior to their encounter.

 _Was this not the case between her and the duo, too?_ Before rewinding time had bent their realities and given them what was supposed to be impossible, she had hated the lab rat’s very being and wanted him to perish, _disappear_ , **_die_ ** \-- So he would finally be out of the way and she could achieve at least something before she also vanished alongside her dying host. She had wished so strongly for his death that the thought of working alongside him, staying around both him and Heart would sound ridiculous to her past self… _Had it also been that way for the feline in front of them?_

The thought that all of this could have been a mere imagination had she never been granted a new body… It was unimaginable to her present self. 

It might have been the same for the black cat, and that was why he was willing to risk himself to help them-- Survival was everything to an instinct-bound animal. Being spared from an inevitable drown was akin to salvation... And the black cat felt indebted to the lab rat.

Indebtedness. Was this what caused Mad Rat, Heart, the black cat, and even herself, to give everything to help and even save each other? 

It sounded like the answer, but she continued to think-- There was something else in there, even stronger than the sense of indebtedness. 

And that is…

“Little Rat.” Rat God interfered, getting the other two creatures’ attention before she voiced her thoughts. “Just like you are thankful that kitty saved you, he is grateful that you spared him, too. I thought that it was just a sense of indebtedness that creatures have in themselves when I see you and Heart become close, but it doesn’t end there…” 

The winged rat hovered near the black cat’s head and started petting him, who purred and closed his eyes in enjoyment as he felt the paw that ruffled through his fur.

“Kitty sees you as a friend and he worries about you, that’s why he wants to help. Friends care about each other and you’d do the same if your positions swapped, right?”

The lab rat was stunned, and incredulously he stared at her with gaped mouth but no words came out from it. He moved on to study the black cat, who looked back at the lab rat as Rat God lifted her paw. They had stared at each other without either making a move, and the moment had frozen-- Until Mad Rat gave up in the staring contest: With a soft huff, he looked away with crossed arms as he muttered loud enough for the feline to hear.

“You can help... But you’re taking us to the human only... We’ll deal with him ourselves, got it? You’re too big... The human can catch you easily...” 

Taking a breath in between, he added quietly, “...And I don’t want to lose another friend.”

The black cat meowed brightly as if he was telling the gloved rat not to worry. Sitting down with ears flicking, he waited for the two rats to finish their conversation.

“Hey, Rat God… Do you think the black cat... Will be able to see the cheesy hallucinations, too...?” The gloved rodent turned to the levitating figure and asked, who shook her head in response.

“I don’t think so. I can create hallucinations, but it seems like cats are unaffected by them.” Rat God shrugged and tapped her chin, her tail nearly touching the ground as she descended. “My former host didn’t react to my hallucinations at all.”

“Alright… I’ll lead the way like before...! Give me some hallucinations, Rat God!”

She nodded and placed her paws on the sides of the gloved rodent’s head, who was ready to close his eyes.

As he was going to do that, Rat God suggested, “Try to think about the black cat just like how you have summoned Heart into your head, Little Rat. It might let you see our kitty here instead of a piece of cheese.”

The lab rat nodded and closed his eyes.

There might not be a beat from the dark feline, but it was also in the real world that he was standing. If he focused hard enough to acknowledge the cat’s existence...

The black cat watched them quietly, and then meowed as he noticed the lab rat allowed himself to see again-- Whose gaze immediately travelled to meet the black cat.

“It’s working! I can see him!” Mad Rat was excited to see the results, and the beats that rang in his ears gave him the support that he needed, enabling him to move around easily again. “All while seeing the cheese around, and the beat’s here too!” 

It did not take much time for him to re-establish a sense of movement, but the building enthusiasm on Mad Rat’s face froze when he realized something.

“Wait... I could’ve done this at the beginning! Why didn’t you say that sooner, Rat God?!”

The false goddess smiled smugly at the reaction. “Well… I just didn’t think of it earlier~!” 

“Dammit, I’ve slapped myself for nothing!!” Mad Rat yelled with a frustrated scowl, but the amusement on his face contradicted his act; Rat God, too, was grinning at the display of vitality that the lab rat had returned to. 

The two rodents walked up to the waiting black cat. Seeing the feline this close to himself was still unnerving, the blue orbs that watched him intently, however, were different from the ones that once aimed to maim him: They were intense, but seeing the black cat’s figure and knowing that he was caring about him instead of bearing a malicious intent had comforted and smoothed out what little remaining fear Mad Rat had for the cat.

Carefully, they got on the back of the black cat, who also stood up with equal caution and raised his head as if he was waiting for the signal.

The lab rat watched the winged rat behind him grab onto the fur on the feline’s back and followed suit.

They were ready to save Heart.

“Let’s go, kitty!” Mad Rat declared with a sharp squeak and the black cat spun into action, leaving behind a trail of yellow delicacy as they pursued the one that would lead them to their friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is 80% done, and technically we have three more chapters to go (and one more if we consider the extra)!  
> The appearance of the black cat has never been revealed in-game (and I think there was not any reference in the official artbook either, right?), but there has been work out there that compared the neck of the black cat to that of Heart's full-body, and he appeared much taller than the orange feline! I used to think they were nearly as tall... This information may also be an implication that Heart is a younger cat, too.


	13. Decisive Resolve

If someone from earlier told the lab rat that he’d be sitting on the back of a cat in rapid search for a friend, he would have sneered at their absolute insanity and paid no heed to their nonsense-- _Why would he ever get close to an enemy of rats, and what…_ Friend _would he have?_ Yet here he was, clinging to the black cat's back as he sprinted between alleyways and streets in fear of falling off as they sought for Heart’s trace. 

Barely getting himself steady again after all the cat-antics the dark feline had graciously performed (and his not-so-gracious struggles to stay on his back), Mad Rat squinted ahead of their path, studying the molten cheese splattered on the ground and corners.

“Turn right after you go past the building in white and keep going! I’ll tell you if that’s the wrong way!”

Mad Rat commanded, and received a meow from the cat that was carrying both him and Rat God. He was not the one sprinting but the speed they were soaring past the streets with gave him an adrenaline rush-- Along with the close encounters with a few other cats as they crossed their territories. Granted, their speed was no match to that of the black cat’s, but the possibility still haunted him, knowing that if any of them sustained any injuries they would also be out of commission in this dire time. 

As the dark feline continued to carve through the silence on the dimly lit road, something on the side came to Mad Rat’s attention-- A vehicle lying against a lamp post stood ahead, cheese dripping from its front and staining the ground around it in yellow.

“Stop next to that thing with wheels, kitty. I want to take a closer look!”

“Hey, that looks like...” Rat God joined in, the familiarity of the machinery seeming to resemble something she recognized.

Hopping off the cat and climbing up the two-wheeled transport, Mad Rat examined it: The cheese that was spilling onto the road came from something he suspected was a small container attached to the vehicle’s front, and he reached a paw out to touch where the cheese seemed to come out from. 

Rat God, not too far behind, fluttered up and confirmed his guess: “This is what the human got away with!”

“Heart must be close!” Mad Rat exclaimed, “Let's hurry!”

* * *

The guidance of molten cheese fell short at the doorstep of a building towered over by the other ones around it, its transparent entrance closely shut but light shone past the gate from the inside.

Then, the tall figure facing against the entrance came into sight.

“The human’s here! Hide!” Mad Rat hissed, and the black cat immediately sprang for cover behind a building on its left, moving away from the brightly illuminated spot.

Spying from the safety provided by a solid brick wall, the lab rat was amused that the human was oblivious to a shadow passing the window for a flick of a moment and was still talking to the curved machine he was holding close to his ear.

_Stupid humans… But now they needed another way in._

The black cat started scaling to the balcony of the building they were hiding behind to let them get a proper view of their target: There was only cheese in front of the large, transparent door that stood between them and where Heart was being kept. To the lab rat’s dismay, further observation brought him to the conclusion that the human had not left any windows open, nor did the rest of the two-storey building.

As her two companions returned to the ground in search of an opportunity to infiltrate the building, Rat God circled the taller block of the building-- The few taps against the windows on it were enough to tell her that they were impossible to pry open even with their combined strength, but her keen eyes had managed to spot just the right thing: A small, rectangular frame layered behind metal bars positioned near the top-left corner from one of the windows, slightly out of reach without means of flying.

“Hey, I found something! Over here!” She yelled for her companions, alertly watching the surroundings should something else also hear her, and let her guard down when only the familiar rat and cat appeared at her call.

“What did you find, Rat God?” Judging from the look that the lab rat was looking at her with, she could tell that his search had not been fruitful; She hovered towards the barred hole she found and gestured at it as she commented, “It’s a little high up, but if we can get the bars off, we can get into the building!”

“Care to help me out, kitty?” Mad Rat asked, and the black cat responded by scooping the gloved rat off his feet-- He squeaked at the loss of solid ground, but found himself landing on the fluffy head of the black cat, between his ears. Using the window as support, the feline stood on his hind legs and poked his head as close to the vent as he could.

“T-Thanks! Now let’s see…” After gaining his balance, the lab rat eagerly approached the small metal cover that blocked their way. He knocked on the surface, feeling the toughness of the cover with his gloved paw and then brushed it against the metal bars on the plate. He was unable to hear any of the metal clanks, but the hardness felt similar to that of his cage lid… 

Gripping the bars firmly with both paws, Mad Rat took a deep breath and started pulling the frame from its spot. He could feel the bars budge from his strength, but it was not enough to rid them from their position.

He let go of the metal frame and retreated to the back of the dark feline’s head. With a charged spin directed towards the blockage, the lab rat sent the metal cover flying to the side which clattered helplessly as it collided with the ground.

“T-There, we can finally get in! I owe you one, kitty!”

Huffing briefly, Mad Rat announced with eagerness and hopped up to take a glimpse at the tunnel ahead of him. He was keen to go onward, but the soft sound of fur shifting behind him told him that the black cat was still here.

“...Kitty?”

A howl-- The black cat was not quite ready to see his friends head into danger yet. 

Turning around, the gloved rodent saw the feline still holding his position in an attempt to stand taller and look into the tunnel. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll be leaving as soon as we get Heart. Everything will be fine!” 

Seeing the black cat like that brought him sorrow-- He must be feeling helpless for not being allowed to help, but Mad Rat was not about to change his mind.

_He couldn’t risk another friend in danger… And if the worst happened, he didn’t need one more pair of eyes to--_

“...See you around, kitty.”

It was getting harder to keep his gaze straight, and he finally broke away from the feline and backed into the darkness, not allowing himself to linger any longer. 

Rat God, who was watching their interaction aside, fluttered to the black cat-- He watched her and then the small vent forlornly, possibly from a mixture of worry and sadness.

“It’s alright, kitty! He’s a tough rat, and so am I. I’ll watch over him.” The false goddess reassured, and the black cat howled again, quieter than before. “And… Thank you. For taking us here and inspiring me. I wouldn’t have understood what I’ve been looking for without you.”

“ _Meow?_ ”

“I’ll see you soon!”

The winged rat spun to catch up with the other rodent waiting ahead, her brightly coloured clothes grew dull under the shadows; the black cat meowed to nobody in particular as he continued to stare at the small gap where both rats had disappeared into, unwilling to leave until he could no longer hear the presence of the two rodents.

* * *

The passage Mad Rat and Rat God had found themselves in was dark and narrow, accompanied by an extraordinary amount of dust that seemed to have accumulated over a long time. Without enough space to levitate, Rat God had to walk on the ground-- Having bits of dust stuck on her limbs was an itchy and somewhat irritating feeling, but she cherished the sensation of being able to feel. Her companion did not seem bothered by the dust, but the intermittent heavy breathing reminded her that he might not be as well as he seemed.

“Are you feeling alright, Little Rat? Would you like to rest for a bit?”

The heavy breathing paused. “I’m fine, I’ve got plenty of strength left to keep going.” He stopped and took a left turn after studying both sides of the split tunnel. “We have to locate an escape route and get out of here after we find Heart. The windows are shut, so we might have to look for something else...”

Rat God was not amused by the change of topic, but she agreed. “Do you think we’re strong enough to open the windows if we do it from the inside?”

“I hope so. Heart’s too big to fit into where we are, and the windows would be our best bet...”

...

“Hey, Rat God?” The lab rat’s voice rang again, this time not as loud as before.

“Hmm?”

“About what you’ve said back then, when the black cat wanted to help us…” He paused, letting his feet lead him forward while finding his words-- The heavy breathing that started also quieted once more. “Would you do the same if you were the black cat?”

Before the false goddess could say anything, he went on with a clarification. “There are still many things you want to try and explore, and what we’re going to do now… It’s dangerous. If the worst happens and we’re forced to rewind, we might still be fine, but… I don’t know what’s going to happen.” 

Rat God looked at the other rodent, but he had not stopped or showed signs of perception-- Nor could she see his expression when his back was facing her.

Undeniably, a part of herself still feared the possibility of their rescue failing that would force one of them to rewind. She could not imagine returning to her parasite form and losing herself, falling back to the wheel of fate that she had miraculously escaped from; but the other part of herself-- The part that she had moulded as a rat and not a parasite-- Knew that no risks would stop her from attempting to do this.

“I know what you’re saying, Little Rat. At first, when I asked to tag along, I was hoping to get some answers for the questions I have since I became a rat, but all this time spent with you two… I’ve gotten so much more than just answers.”

She let her mind wander freely as if they were not crawling through a gloomy and dust-filled tunnel and instead under the moon like the previous night and reflecting on the memories they shared. “We’ve had so much fun seeing the human girl and kitty, watching the moon, doodling on that big rock together… I haven’t felt this kind of warmth and happiness before, and I don’t want to lose the feeling. I feel so powerful from that, that I was able to overcome the voice in my head… All thanks to you and Heart.”

The winged rat smiled softly at the thought. 

“Besides, it might be dangerous, but we have the upper hand! If I can latch myself onto the human, then I can make him hallucinate and he won’t be able to hurt us. We just have to be careful, right?”

Now looking back at the smiling rodent now covered in dust just like himself, Mad Rat smiled as well, albeit wistfully. “Yeah, you’re right. There’s nothing to worry about, it’s just--”

A sudden surge of feeling tugged at the unsuspecting rodent, and he nearly toppled onto the surface-- He was able to avoid falling over thanks to the other rat that caught him in time.

“Little Rat...” 

“I-I’m fine…! I was just surprised. I felt a tug out of nowhere...” The grey rodent stood up and brushed the dust off himself, then laid a paw on his chest.

Mad Rat could feel a light feeling resonating from within-- Unlike a heartbeat, but familiar nonetheless. There was also something… Strange about it, and that he was growing uncomfortable the longer he stood still, but he brushed it aside. He took small steps ahead, devoting his attention to the feeling, and he could sense it getting stronger as he advanced. 

_There was only one thing that would get stronger the closer he was..._

“Heart might be somewhere nearby!” Mad Rat had started charging towards the other side of the path as he squeaked with haste, but he slowly came to a halt before he reached the other end.

“The feeling gets fainter if I leave this area...” Mad Rat announced his discovery with narrowed eyes and took tentative steps back to where he was standing seconds ago. He repeated his movements back and forth on the same path, and eventually came to a conclusion: “Rat God, I think Heart might be right under us!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having the two rodents on the black cat's back makes a rather funny picture in my head-- He is not used to having passengers on him, let alone two! I keep imagining Rat God holding onto her hat while Mad Rat gets flung off from the movement... -cough- It would be akin to trying to ride a rollercoaster without seatbelts provided, as the black cat would not be able to tell that he is going too fast. xd
> 
> (Mid-terms are approaching as this chapter is in progress so things are getting rather busy... I hope it would not take too long for me to be able to finish the remaining chapters!)


End file.
